Sonic Reborn 2
by ShizukaRakugaki44
Summary: Three years after the events of Sonic Reborn, Sonny Miles Amelia and Chuck are living on Bygone Island with no memories of the spirits that possessed them not too long ago when Doctor Eggman returns after being presumed dead. This in turn forces Sonny and his friends to team up and stop him once more as new spirits arise to take control of them.
1. Chapter 1: Homecoming

**So here it is! The long-awaited sequel of** ** _Sonic Reborn_** **which you guys have been asking me to do since the series ended. Now, I will cover the upcoming** ** _Sonic Mania_** **and** ** _Sonic Forces_** **games in due time. But in the meantime, I'm going to cover the** ** _Sonic Boom_** **games starting with a combination of** ** _Rise of Lyric_** **and** ** _Shattered Crystal_** **since they're practically the same game but with slight differences between the two. Hopefully, my versions of these games will be better than the actual ones. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Homecoming

It had been three years since Sonny's twentieth birthday, when Mephiles the Dark was defeated and Sonic and his friends' spirits were laid to rest. In that time, Miles and Amelia had graduated from Spagonia University and become assistants to an archeologist named Cliff who was an acquaintance of Professor Pickle's. He was doing excavations on Bygone Island, which lay several miles from South Island, and offered Amelia and Miles to join him. They in turn invited Sonny and Chuck to come along as volunteers to help with the digging, and did so willingly. While working there, the four became best friends with Stilla.

She was a cousin of Marina, whom Miles had remained friends with after she left South Island, and had been living in the wilderness ever since her parents died. But then when Marina came to Bygone Island, Stilla reunited with her and the two got along well. Unfortunately, Marina didn't stay for long as she wanted to explore the world in her handmade boat called the _Super SS Marina_. So Stilla was left alone again until Sonny and his friends showed up. She proved to not only be a good friend, despite her paranoid fantasies, but also was a tremendous help in finding artifacts located in the thick jungles that took up most of Bygone Island. In return, all Stilla asked for were pieces of metal or 'Shinies' as she called them.

Today, Sonny and Miles were walking along a beach when something started vibrating in one of Sonny's jean-short pockets. His blue hair was shorter than it used to be, and he also wore a blue rolled-up denim shirt, brown neckerchief, and red shoes wrapped in bandages along with his forearms. He took out a yellow scroll-like device and opened it to reveal a holographic screen which had Amelia's face on it. She was wearing a magenta-colored dress with white bandages wrapped around her waist, purple stockings and matching arm sleeves that went up to her elbows.

"Hey," Sonny said. "What's going on?"

" _Oh, nothing much,_ " Amelia replied. " _Just found some old ruins which have carvings describing a temple that houses something called 'Lyric.'_ "

"Any idea what it means?"

Amelia shook her head. " _Maybe I'll ask Cliff about it._ "

Just then a roaring laugh caused Amelia to accidentally drop her device, which looked exactly like Sonny's, as a round floating device came down carrying a large but surprisingly slim man wearing a red jacket and gray pants with a thick brown mustache and dark shades accentuated by green-tinted goggles.

"Doctor Robotnik!" Amelia exclaimed. "I thought you vanished after Sonny and Miles freed the Wisps from your theme-park."

The mustached man snorted. "Have you forgotten already? I no longer respond to the name 'Robotnik'. It's Eggman now, and has been since I invaded South Island all those years ago."

"Well, you're not taking over this island!" Amelia summoned the Piko Hammer into her hands and was about to dash forward when something held her back.

It was a blue and metallic version of Sonny, only with a turbo engine on his chest, red eyes, and no mouth.

"Let go of me, Metal Sonny!" Amelia cried, struggling against the android's strong grip. "You piece of junk!"

"Now, don't say that," Eggman said as he landed the floating device. "He's just doing his job."

"What do you want?" Amelia demanded.

"Oh, nothing much," Eggman responded, strolling up to Amelia till he stood a few inches from her. "Just tell me where this temple you were talking about is, and I'll let you go."

"No way!" Amelia objected.

This caused Eggman to frown. "Fine, then I'll have to force the answer out of you."

As Metal Sonny's grip tightened, Amelia looked down at the scroll-like device. "Sonny!"

" _Yeah, I heard all that,_ " Sonny said on the other end. " _Where are you located?_ "

"I'm at—

Before Amelia could finish, Eggman stomped on the device with his black leather boot.

###

Seeing the screen on his device go blank Sonny immediately told Miles what happened, who now wore a brown vest over a yellow T-shirt with a leather strap that covered one shoulder which was attached to a matching belt. He also sported orange-tinted googles, khaki shorts, yellow socks, and red shoes wrapped in bandages just like Sonny's feet.

"I guess we were wrong to assume Eggman was dead after being sucked into that black hole," Miles murmured. "Guess he must've found some way to return to Mobius."

"We don't have time to figure that out, though," Sonny insisted. "We've got to get the others and save Amelia!"

"But where is she?" Miles asked. "I don't recall her saying anything after we got Stilla out of that canyon."

"Maybe Chuck will know," Sonny suggested. "He followed Amelia afterward."

"Well, go look for him, then," Miles said as he opened up his scroll-like device. "I'll call Cliff and see if he knows where Amelia might have gone."

###

After taking off at full speed, Sonny was able to find Chuck in a matter of minutes who now stood two heads taller than him wearing the same red tank top shirt and shorts with muscled arms and knees covered by bandages.

"Amelia's being attacked by Eggman?" Chuck exclaimed after Sonny finished explaining what happened. "Why?"

"He asked her for the location of some temple, and she refused to answer," Sonny replied. "Now can you tell me which way Amelia went?"

"Um, that way," Chuck said, pointing at a stone archway behind him. "I think."

"Let's hope you're right." Then Sonny's scroll-like device started vibrating again and he answered. "Hey, Miles, I think we've got a lead."

" _That's great, but I've got bad news,_ " Miles stated. " _I ran into Stilla and told her what's going on, then she just took off into the jungle._ "

"Then follow her!" Sonny encouraged. "Hopefully, we'll meet up at the same place."

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2: Discovery

Chapter 2: Discovery

Eventually, Sonny and Chuck came to a series of ruins that resembled a courtyard. There, they found Amelia lying on the ground while Stilla tried to help her up. She was a girl of short height with brown pigtails that had orange-colored roots, wore a gray strapless top and ragged skirt, a shelled necklace, leather booties, and a gold arm bracelet. Her ocean-blue eyes gazed at Sonny and she sighed with relief.

"Are you okay?" Sonny asked as he assisted Stilla in helping Amelia to her feet.

"I'm fine now," Amelia murmured, dusting herself off.

"Some bad robot was attacking my best friend, so I scared him off with my trusty boomerang," Stilla said, holding up a large wooden boomerang as she spoke. "But he didn't like it, and tried shooting at me with lasers until this huge guy called him off."

"That must have been Eggman," Miles figured, entering the courtyard.

"Egg-what?" Stilla's eyebrows raised.

"Doctor Robotnik," Miles clarified. "He's the one we told you about who's been trying to take over the world dozens of times and we've stopped him every time."

Stilla cocked her head to the side. "So he's a robot?"

"No, that's just his name," Miles explained.

"Real name, anyway," Sonny added. "Now he prefers calling himself Eggman."

"And who's he?" Stilla asked.

"Doctor Robotnik," Miles emphasized. "They're the same person."

"Oh," Stilla nodded. "And which one's the evil scientist guy again?"

While Miles groaned, Amelia said, "Can we discuss this later? Eggman's on his way to the temple I was talking about, and it's my fault."

"Did he force you to answer?" Miles questioned as he examined Amelia's throat which had red marks on it.

"Yes," Amelia answered. "Eggman had Metal Sonny nearly choke me to death. Then after I gave him the information he wanted, Stilla showed up forcing him to leave."

"Then there's no time to lose," Sonny responded. "Stilla, you get back to the village. The rest of us will go after Eggman."

"Aw, but I wanted to beat up the Egg guy for hurting my friend," Stilla whined.

"It's too dangerous," Miles warned. "We've handled Eggman before, but you haven't."

"But she handled herself fine against him just now," Amelia claimed. "I see no harm in bringing her along."

"Yeah," Chuck encouraged. "If she's gonna hang out with us, then she'll have to learn how to fight against Eggman sooner or later."

"Not bad advice, Chuck, but this is serious," Miles said sternly. "I promised Marina we would take care of Stilla for her, and I don't plan on breaking that."

Then Miles pressed a hidden button on his belt which unveiled a hidden propeller that immediately started spinning. It launched him into the air and he was able to levitate and grab Stilla on his way upwards.

"Hey, put me down!" Stilla complained. "Don't take me to the cloud monsters that look down on us and wait for the right time to strike!"

"I'll meet up with you guys later," Miles said as he left the courtyard. "Just find Eggman."

"Already on it!" Sonny shouted, and was about to dash when Amelia held him back. "What?"

"I haven't told you which direction Eggman went," Amelia responded and subsequently pointed to the cliff that marked the northern edge of the courtyard.

"Thanks," Sonny nodded and dashed up the cliff while the others followed.

###

Sometime later, Sonny Amelia and Chuck had found an ancient road that took them through the jungle while Miles joined up with them along the way. Up ahead, they saw Eggman's Egg Mobile gliding down the path and quickly ran to catch up to him. But no matter how far they got, Eggman always managed to stay ahead.

"What's the matter, Sonny?" Eggman taunted. "Can't keep up?"

"No," Sonny said, moving ahead till he was alongside the Egg Mobile. "Just needed some time to warm up."

Grumbling under his breath, Eggman pressed a button which made him go faster. Then he fired missiles at a pillar up ahead causing it to fall and block one side of the road as it branched into two paths.

While Eggman took the left path, Sonny looked behind and said, "Miles and I will take the right side. You two go left."

"On it!" Chuck stated, and ran down the left path with Amelia following behind him.

Meanwhile, Sonny and Miles continued to follow Eggman on the right side as his path eventually merged with theirs. This in turn allowed Amelia and Chuck to regroup with Sonny and Miles as the four of them chased Eggman together.

"Curses!" Eggman snapped. "Now it looks like I'll have to separate you. Metal Sonny!"

A whooshing sound followed, and Metal Sonny floated right beside Eggman's Egg Mobile. It regarded them all indifferently and charged downward.

"He's coming right for us!" Amelia exclaimed. "Get out of the way, Chuck!"

"Right," Chuck responded, and took the left path as it branched from the right one.

While Amelia followed him again, Miles and Sonny continued running after Eggman while Metal Sonny kept striking at both parties but to no avail.

"This is getting ridiculous," Eggman murmured. "Time to thin out the numbers myself."

Eggman fired another set of missiles, but this time they blew up the road in front of him. While he flew over just fine, Sonny and Miles fell down into a trench where a group of strange red and silver robots met them.

"These definitely aren't Badniks," Miles stated. "They're too tall and wield energy swords instead of guns."

"You'd be correct to assume that, Miles," Eggman said, floating above the trench. "They are ancient robots I dug up and after doing some tinkering I managed to get them up and running. Hope you appreciate my work, boys!"

Then as Eggman flew away, the strange robots closed in. While Sonny rammed into them by curling up into a ball midair, Miles fired lasers from his wristwatch at them and occasionally flew around on his propeller apparatus. When the last robot was left standing, Sonny kicked it into a nearby stone wall causing the whole thing to come down.

"Huh, didn't know I could do that," Sonny said to himself. "Let's go, Miles."

In turn, Miles nodded. The two navigated a forest path until they came a platform that overlooked the jungle below.

"Whoa, check out that structure over there," Miles said, pointing to a stone formation shaped like a scepter with a ring-shaped hole.

"Never seen that before," Sonny remarked. "Could it be the temple Eggman's looking for?"

"Maybe," Miles concurred. "It looks big enough."

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3: Reawakening

Chapter 3: Reawakening

Sometime later, Sonny and Miles came to the structure's entrance where Amelia and Chuck were waiting for them.

"So glad you're still alive," Miles remarked gladly. "But what happened to Metal?"

"Let's just say he won't be bothering us again," Chuck huffed and then his brows furrowed. "Unless Eggman finds a way to piece him back together."

"What is this place?" Amelia asked, looking at the structure from top to bottom.

Her eyes fell on the structure's intricately carved door which showed images of humans with blue and yellow hair running below the emblem of a man's face with snake-like eyes. Then at their level was a gold hand-shaped imprint.

"Looks like my hand could fit in that," Sonny observed and stepped forward.

"Wait, Sonny," Amelia said abruptly. "I think this is the temple those carvings I found were talking about. Why is there a handprint-shaped pad that fits yours perfectly?"

"Let alone carvings that resemble Sonny and Miles," Chuck added, pointing to the carvings.

"Yeah, this is weird," Amelia stated, and stared at the door intently.

Metal clanking noises suddenly got Chuck's attention, and he looked back to see the same robots Miles and Sonny encountered earlier.

"Um, guys," Chuck muttered. "We've got company."

"They're the same ones Miles and I fought before," Sonny explained. "Eggman apparently dug them up and made them tick again."

"Mind if I do the honor of sending these things back in the dirt where they belong?" Chuck asked, flexing his fist.

"Be my guest," Sonny offered.

"Sweet!" Chuck smiled, and walked toward the robots with his fists pumping.

"Think I'll join you, Chuck," Amelia said, summoning the Piko Hammer. "My arms are getting restless for a swinging."

Followed by Miles, the three of them fought off the robots but more kept coming. This made Sonny look back at the handprint, and hold up his hand once more.

"No!" Amelia snapped, looking back at Sonny. "We don't know what's in there."

Sonny groaned. "I know, but—

"We'll be fine," Amelia insisted.

Then Metal Sonny landed firmly on the ground, causing Miles Chuck and Amelia to get thrown back. As they got up, Metal Sonny pointed at them causing the robots to advance forward. Concerned, Sonny pressed his hand into the imprint. It immediately lit up and caused the temple's doors to open.

"Come on!" Sonny waved. "Get inside!"

Without questioning him, the others ran back up the stairs and into the temple entrance. Sonny followed and watched Metal Sonny advance as the doors suddenly closed before him. There was an echoing silence, followed by a low hum as Sonny noticed a giant crystal hanging above a statue further down the chamber with light beams circling around it.

"Wow, this place is huge," Miles said in awe and noticed several corridors. "And there are so many paths to take."

"So what should we do?" Amelia asked.

"Split up," Sonny suggested. "Miles and I will take the paths on the right side of this room. You guys can take the left paths."

"Ugh, so many lefts today," Chuck groaned. "Does that mean they'll eventually make a right?"

"No, Chuck," Amelia shook her head. "It's just a figure of speech."

"I knew that," Chuck retorted. "It was a joke."

While Chuck went into the corridor with the red walls inside, Amelia went for the one with the pink balancing beams. As for Miles, he chose the corridor with the high platforms and Sonny picked the one with the blue ramps. Each of them passed the corridor's obstacle courses without too much difficulty and together moved a pair of giant lasers to light up some crystals that allowed them to enter the main foyer.

"Well, that was fun," Sonny remarked. "Now let's go check out that statue over there."

As he ran down the chamber, the others followed him. At the other end, they found the statue to be an unusually tall man wearing some kind of metallic suit and glass helmet. His hands were bound by an orb-shaped object and he looked to be in pain. The crystal above him was glowing as a light shined downward. While Miles looked around for an exit, the door behind them suddenly closed.

"Hey, a thought just occurred to me," Miles said nervously. "What if this temple was meant to keep things in, but not let them out?"

"Then we're trapped." Amelia glared at Sonny. "And this is all your fault."

"What?" Sonny's eyes widened. "I was saving you."

"We were doing just fine," Chuck insisted, folding his arms angrily. "I could've taken out Metal Sonny myself."

"But you just said—

"You!"

Sonny looked back at the statue and saw that the statue was now fully colored and moving slightly. It stared at him with serpentine eyes that were filled with hate, while the rest of its face was pale and bald underneath the glass helmet. The suit was now a bright red and the orb had taken on a golden color. From behind the man's back appeared a tail-like apparatus with a three-prong pincer attached to it.

Feeling uncomfortable by the man's stare, Sonny pointed to himself. "Are you…talking to me?"

"We have unfinished business, you and I," the man sneered.

"No idea what you're talking about, but I'm going to assume it's a bad thing," Sonny guessed.

The man made a hissing sound as his tail apparatus' pincers pointed at Sonny.

"Ooh, scary," Sonny mocked. "Now let's see what you're really made of!"

Before anyone could stop him, Sonny ran at the man and hit the orb which shattered revealing he had claw-shaped hands. After Sonny was thrown back and caught by his friends, the man tossed a multi-colored energy ring that was bound to one of his hands. It encompassed Sonny and the others and hoisted them into the air.

"So predictable, even after a thousand years have passed," the man murmured and pressed a blue button on his chest.

This caused some red robots that were lying about to suddenly activate and rise up.

"Come, my warriors," the man said. "We've got a world to destroy."

He then raised one clawed hand at a nearby wall and fired a beam of bright green energy from it. A part of the wall instantly shattered upon being hit, allowing the man to float away as the lines on his suit glowed blue while some of the robots followed.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4: Freedom

Chapter 4: Freedom

"Um, what just happened?" Amelia wondered as some of the robots who didn't follow the strange man started to close in on her and the others as they still hovered midair due to the multi-colored beams that kept them together.

"Let's see," Miles stated in a sarcastic tone as he started fiddling with one of the four silver-colored shackles that bound the multi-colored beams. "We stumbled into an ancient temple, played with some lasers, and got tied up by a weird snake guy. Am I missing anything?"

"The one to blame for all of this, which is Sonny," Chuck added.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know?" Sonny argued.

"Relax, guys," Miles insisted. "I've almost got this thing figured out."

"How?" Chuck asked.

"I'm the genius that can invent things on the spot, remember?" Miles said, clicking something into place on the shackle. "All right, that should do it."

The beams suddenly turned off, causing the shackles to come undone and the four friends to fall down. They landed unevenly as the robots approached them with their energy swords out.

"Okay," Chuck smirked. "Who wants a piece of me?"

He clobbered the first robot that approached him, followed by another. Meanwhile, Amelia swung her hammer around bashing robots right and left while Sonny spin-dashed into them. As this was happening, Miles stayed up in the air on his propeller apparatus and tinkered with the four shackles after collecting them. When the battle was over, he came back down and gave each of his friends one shackle including himself.

"Uh, Miles," Sonny started, looking down at his blue-colored shackle.

"Are these friendship bracelets?" Amelia pondered, examining her pink one.

"Not exactly," Miles answered, wearing a yellow one while Chuck examined his red-colored shackle quizzically. "While you guys were fighting the robots, I reconfigured the shackles into energy beams that we can use."

"Sounds neat," Sonny remarked. "But how will they get us out of here?"

"I'm not sure," Miles said thoughtfully, and noticed a big statue near the wall the strange man made a hole in. "Let's test it on that."

"Well, here goes nothing," Sonny said, and pressed the button on his shackle.

A blue energy beam emerged, attaching itself to the statue.

"Now what?" Sonny asked Miles.

"Maybe try pulling," Miles suggested.

So Sonny did that, and the statue seemed to move slightly.

"Let's help him," Amelia said, and fired a pink beam from her shackle. "If we pull the statue back far enough, it'll crash through the wall once we let go."

"Good idea," Chuck nodded, and fired a red beam. "Though I'm still blaming Sonny for this."

While Sonny made a slight groan, Miles fired a yellow beam and the four of them pulled back.

The statue tilted forward, leaning off the pedestal it stood on.

"Now, release the beams!" Miles stated and turned off his beam.

As the others did the same, the statue fell backward and knocked the rest of the wall out. Behind it lay an opening with a blue-colored energy line leading outside.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sonny made an excited grin.

"If we're on the same wavelength, then yeah," Miles smiled. "It's some kind of wire made from pure energy that'll attract anything metallic or energy-based."

"Like these Ener-Beams?"

Miles gave Sonny a confused look. "Ener-Beams?"

"The things we're wearing," Sonny clarified. "They shoot beams made of energy, so…Ener-Beams. Get it?"

Amelia groaned. "Can we just get out of here?"

"Sure thing!" Sonny fired a beam at the blue energy line and leaped upward.

He went swinging down the line shouting excitedly while the others quickly followed. They found themselves heading outside the temple where the strange guy was hovering away and laughing maniacally.

"Aw, jeez," Sonny moaned. "We've already got one mad genius that laughs annoyingly. We don't need two."

Hearing Sonny, the strange man turned to look downward. "What? How did you get out?"

"That's our little secret," Sonny smirked. "So mind telling what your beef is with me?"

The man stuck his tongue out at them and flew off.

"Ew," Amelia winced. "Talk about rude."

"He's getting away!" Miles pointed. "We've got to go after him."

"Already doing that," Sonny replied and quickly dodged some incoming energy blasts being fired by the strange man. "Whoa, he almost shot us! Stay sharp, guys!"

They continued down the energy line and dodged the man's energy blasts through a moss-covered canyon until they got to another ancient road where the energy line ended. Hopping off, the four continued pursuing the man through more forests and jungles which changed abruptly into a dry canyon landscape. This time, the man fired energy blasts at the boulders above which fell onto the road causing Sonny and his friends to fly into the air.

###

By the time Sonny came to, he was lying on a bed inside a large white-colored tent.

"Morning, Sonny," said an old, kindly voice. "I thought you was a goner."

Sonny looked to his left and saw a tall lanky man standing over him. He had medium-length pale blond hair, had a white beard, wore glasses, a wide-brimmed hat complemented by a yellow shirt over a white undershirt with matching khaki pants, long leather gloves and boots, and a dark green neckerchief.

"Cliff!" Sonny exclaimed. "How did you find us?"

"We found you and your friends passed out near the excavation site," the man named Cliff said, his pale blue eyes showing concern. "And that's where you are now."

As Sonny looked around, he saw a female doctor wearing a purple dress under her doctor's uniform and strands of black hair showing underneath her cap.

"Where are the others?" Sonny asked.

"Outside," replied Cliff. "Amelia told me what happened, so I did some research and I think the four of you ought to hear the full story."

"About what?"

"The weird snake guy you found in that so-called temple."

Reluctantly, Sonny got up causing the female doctor to come toward him.

"Now hold your horses, young man," the doctor said irritably in a southern accent. "I haven't discharged you from my care yet."

"He is now, Doc Ginger," Cliff said to the doctor. "And if he starts passing out again, I'll bring him back to you."

The doctor was about to object, but then she sighed. "Fine, but I won't let you discharge him so easily next time."

"Hopefully, that won't happen," Sonny remarked to himself as he followed Cliff out of the tent.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5: Crystals

Chapter 5: Crystals

Near a small tent, Sonny regrouped with his friends as they gathered around Cliff. He then picked up a leather-bound book and opened it to a page depicting a man with serpentine eyes and claw-like hands.

"The snake guy's name is Lyric," Cliff explained. "Or at least, that's what he chose to call himself after being possessed by some kind of monster."

"Whoa," Chuck remarked. "That doesn't sound good."

"How did it happen?" Miles asked.

"A thousand years ago, the Ancients were experimenting on connecting to the astral plane," Cliff stated, turning to another page in the book which showed hooded figures looking down at a pool reflecting images of strange animals with human-like attributes. "They believed there were other beings that existed in parallel worlds, and the man who would become Lyric was the first to enter one such world. But he came back a changed person, having attained snake-like features and behaviors. Frightened by this, the Ancients closed off the portal to the astral plane and forced the man to wear a suit that repressed the creature inside of him. Yet this didn't prove to be enough. He then attempted to steal the Chaos Crystals, which powered most of the Ancients' technology, to activate an army of robots that were significantly powerful. They would've destroyed the world had the Ancients not sealed Lyric inside that temple you found, which served as a prison of sorts until now."

While everyone glared at Sonny, he said sheepishly, "So…how do we stop him?"

"By collecting the Chaos Crystals before Lyric does," Cliff answered. "But you'll have to hurry as he's probably looking for 'em as we speak."

"Any idea where they could be?" Amelia said urgently.

Cliff scratched his beard. "I'll have to do some more research to figure that out. In the meantime, why don't you four head over to the Mines?"

"For what reason?" Chuck wondered.

"Haven't heard anything from the miners in a while," Cliff stated. "And that worries me."

"No problem, Cliff," Sonny stated firmly. "We'll be back soon."

Then Sonny took off leaving the others in the dust. They eventually caught up to him at the Mines' entrance, which was a hollowed out tunnel containing a large unearthed statue head.

"This place gives me the creeps," Amelia flinched, looking at the statue head. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Help! Somebody!" cried a nervous-sounding voice.

"That sounded close," Sonny flinched. "Let's go."

"Hold on," Miles interrupted, walking over to a nearby wall holding his scroll-like device up. "My AVA is picking up strong energy signals. Could be a Crystal, but I'm not sure."

"Can't this wait?" Chuck said to Miles urgently. "That guy sounds like he's in trouble!"

"I'll catch up later," Miles responded, stopping in front of the wall. "Sonny, could you give me a hand?"

"Uh, sure thing," Sonny replied, and walked over to the wall.

Clenching her fists, Amelia continued toward the screaming man while Chuck followed behind. They came to a metal gate behind the statue head where a nervous-looking man wearing a yellow vest, jeans, and a hardhat stood.

"The mine's collapsed!" the man shouted. "My buddies are trapped inside; they could die any moment, and—

"All right, take it easy," Chuck said calmly. "We're here to help."

"You are?" The man gave Chuck a dubious look.

"Yeah," Amelia claimed. "Cliff sent us."

"Oh, that's…very considerate of him," the man muttered. "Though I don't get how you two are gonna save my colleagues."

"Let's just say we've handled these kinds of situations before," Chuck answered cryptically. "Now where are the miners?"

"They're right through there." The man thumbed back at the gate. "Now I don't wanna be liable for suing in case something bad happens to you guys as well."

"We'll be fine, Mister," Amelia assured. "Trust us."

As the man gulped, he swung open the gate. "Okay, if you say so."

###

After Amelia and Chuck freed the trapped miners, they came back through the gate perfectly intact. The man was so happy that he shook both of their hands and hugged his colleagues before escorting them out.

"Well, that's that," Chuck remarked, dusting his hands off.

"It would've been nice if Sonny and Miles helped, though," Amelia responded irritably as her Piko Hammer vanished.

"Hey, guys!" Sonny cried as he and Miles ran over from the wall which now had a hole in it. "Look what we found!"

In his hands, Miles was carrying a large blue crystal with a glass-like surface and electric sparks emanating from it.

Amelia's eyes widened. "Is that a—?

"Yep," Miles nodded. "It's a Chaos Crystal. I programmed my AVA to pick up different energy signals awhile back, but this one was giving off a completely new signal altogether."

"He was even able to program it to see hidden things after we found a chamber behind that wall we went to," Sonny added.

"Well, that's…neat," Chuck said sounding slightly disinterested.

"We should get back to Cliff and show him this," Amelia said as she took the crystal from Miles' hands. "He'll be able to tell us if it's the real deal."

###

Back at the excavation site, Amelia gave Cliff the crystal who examined it carefully while adjusting his glasses every now and then. "That's a Chaos Crystal, all right. I believe this one's known as the Shock Crystal, for obvious reasons."

"Because it produces lightning?" Chuck guessed.

"Exactly," Cliff nodded. "Now do you remember the large gate we found across the lake that's further up this canyon?"

"Yeah," Sonny and the others said in unison.

"And there was a lock in front with an odd shape?"

"Uh-huh," Miles nodded.

"I think the Shock Crystal is the key to opening that gate," Cliff said firmly. "And if my theory is correct, it'll give us access to the Abandoned Research Facility."

"Cool!" Miles' eyes brightened. "It'll be a treasure-trove of knowledge on Ancients' technology, for sure."

"It could also lead to another Crystal," Cliff reminded Miles. "Remember, time is of the essence so don't dawdle in there too long."

In response, Miles groaned. "All right, I won't."

The four left Cliff and crossed the lake to get to the gate. There, they walked up to the lock where Sonny placed the Shock Crystal into the slot. It was a perfect fit, and soon the Crystal was absorbed inward as a rumbling noise followed. As Sonny and his friends stepped back, the gate swung open revealing an open path beyond it.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6: Defection

Chapter 6: Defection

Eventually, Sonny and his friends found a moss-covered building standing at the end of a jungle-infested valley.

"Well, they don't call it the Abandoned Research Facility for nothing," Chuck observed. "This place looks deserted."

"Then Lyric probably hasn't gotten here yet," Miles guessed.

"Or he could be waiting for us inside," Amelia argued.

"There's only one way to find out," Sonny said, and approached the entrance.

To his surprise, a part of the building opened revealing a sloped passage on the other side.

"Huh," Sonny remarked. "Who knew the Ancients had automatic doors back then."

###

After passing through two rooms with glass-tiled floors, the four entered a large area that had a door attached to a pair of pulleys high above them.

"Judging by those handles up there, I think we can use the Ener-Beams to push the pulleys down and unlock the door," Miles figured.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Chuck agreed, staring at some red walls nearby. "I've been itching for a good climb."

"Then I might as well tag along," Amelia said as she summoned the Piko Hammer once more. "Those balancing beams look doable for me."

So the two raced upwards till they came to a platform that stood across from the handles Miles pointed at. Then Chuck and Amelia activated their Ener-Beams and pulled back to make the pulleys go downwards. This in turn unlocked the door, which Sonny and Miles approached. But a part of the floor suddenly collapsed and they fell into a hole.

Hearing their screams, Amelia gasped. "It sounds like they're in trouble!"

"All right, going down!" Chuck announced as he started climbing downward while Amelia did the same.

At the bottom, Amelia and Chuck looked down the hole and saw Miles and Sonny standing looking up at them.

"Are you guys okay?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Sonny assured.

"We'll see if there's a way out from down here," Miles stated. "You two head through the door without us."

Chuck nodded hesitantly. "Okay, but if we find something that can help we'll be back."

###

Past the door was another chamber with a high-vaulted ceiling, so Chuck and Amelia climbed to the very top using the same red walls and pink balancing beams that were in the previous area. There, they found a path that led outside.

"Whew! We're pretty high up," Amelia noticed and sighed. "Nice to get some fresh air after doing all that climbing."

As the two approached a ledge, a floating object covered in moss suddenly appeared in front of them and shot a blue ray from its glass-like eye.

" _Scanning life forms,_ " the object said in a computerized female voice. " _Negative on blue-haired boy in party._ "

"Blue-haired boy?" Amelia thought for a moment and asked, "What do you want with him?"

" _Information classified,_ " replied the floating object. " _But it is crucial to stop Lyric._ "

"Lyric, huh?" Chuck folded his arms. "How do we know you're not one of his machines who's been sent to lure us into a trap or something?"

" _I defected from Lyric a thousand years ago, red-haired boy,_ " the object argued. " _That gives me more than enough credit to be trustworthy._ "

Amelia's brow furrowed. "If what you're saying is true, then you must know where the Chaos Crystals are, right?"

" _Not personally, but I know a way of finding them,_ " the object admitted. " _If you tell me where the blue-haired boy is, I'll show you how to find the Chaos Crystals._ "

"Seems legit to me," Chuck shrugged. "Though I don't appreciate being called a 'red-haired boy'. The name's Chuck in case you're wondering, and we're assuming the blue-haired boy you're talking about is Sonny."

The object nodded.

"He and Miles fell into a trap on the ground floor of this place," Chuck answered before Amelia could stop him.

" _Thank you, 'Chuck'. Your truthfulness is admirable._ "

Then the floating object hovered down, leaving Chuck and Amelia alone again.

"Idiot!" Amelia snapped, punching Chuck in the shoulder. "We should've asked her more questions before telling her where Sonny and Miles were."

"It sounded like she was telling the truth," Chuck said defensively.

"But we don't know that for sure."

"All right, if it'll make you feel better, we'll go back down and find them before the weird robot thing does."

"Fine, but I'm blaming you if something happens to Sonny, or Miles for that matter."

###

Down below, Sonny and Miles had just traversed an underground sewer and entered a room with a strange circular device glowing on one wall.

"This place gives me the creeps," Miles admitted.

"Oh, calm down," Sonny encouraged. "It's not like anything's gonna jump up in front of us."

As he spoke, the same hovering object Amelia and Chuck had encountered appeared right in front of Sonny and Miles who screamed a little. Then the object emanated the same blue ray as before.

" _Blue-haired boy and yellow-haired friend confirmed,_ " the object stated. " _It is good to see you two again after all this time._ "

"Have we met before?" Sonny asked.

" _Yes,_ " the object confirmed. " _My name is MAIA, and I helped imprison Lyric a thousand years ago. You and your friend were there, too, though I can't recall why._ "

"Well, if that's the case, then maybe you can help us stop Lyric now," Sonny suggested. "He's been released again, and it's my fault."

" _You need not blame yourself,_ " MAIA insisted. " _The prison was specifically constructed to be opened by your hand so that Lyric may be defeated permanently as he's grown weak with age._ "

"That makes sense in theory, but it essentially allows him to retain the strength he had in the past which is greater than what we're capable of in the present," Miles argued. "Unless we had those Chaos Crystals."

MAIA paused for a moment. " _There is…a map that shows where all the Chaos Crystals are located, but it's been lost for so many years._ "

"Is there some way of getting it back?" Sonny wondered.

" _With this machine,_ " MAIA responded.

Sonny and Miles looked behind them and gazed at the circular device.

"How will that thing help us?" Miles asked.

" _It has the capability of sending you back to a time before the map was lost,_ " MAIA explained.

"So it's a time machine?" When MAIA nodded, Sonny's eyes lit up. "Awesome! Let's go, then."

" _Unable to grant request,_ " MAIA objected. " _Not enough sufficient power…need generator to power machine._ "

"Hey!" Amelia's voice carried down. "Did you guys see a weird robot thing, by chance?"

"It's with us now," Sonny replied. "Apparently, its name is MAIA and it wants to help us find a map to the Chaos Crystals using this time machine that's down here. But she needs the generator running to give it enough juice to work, so if you and Chuck can do that we'd really appreciate your help."

Amelia groaned. "The things I do for you."

"We're gonna take care of it," Chuck responded. "Just you wait."

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7: Mind-Control

Chapter 7: Mind-Control

In another large chamber with a glowing orb at the very top, Amelia and Chuck got up to it and found several robots lurking around.

"This must be what's causing the generator to not work," Chuck guessed. "An infestation of Lyric's robots!"

"Looks like it," Amelia remarked. "Though they seem to be guarding that orb, which has something inside."

"Maybe if we release that thing, it'll make the generator work again."

"Guess we'll find out."

The two quickly set to work on beating up the robots, which looked similar to MAIA but were brand-new along with some snake-shaped ones.

"Ugh," Chuck moaned, stomping on one of the snake-shaped robots. "I hate snakes."

"Even though you lived on a floating tropical island for most of your life?" Amelia said snidely.

"Just because I did doesn't mean I had to like every single creature that lived there."

"Okay, whatever." Amelia waved her hand dismissively and shot an Ener-Beam at a handle below a beam of energy encompassed by two metal objects. "Just help me pull these plugs down so the energy from that orb flows into the generator."

"Gotcha," Chuck nodded and went over to another one.

Taking turns, the two pulled the four plugs down causing the orb to dissipate and the object inside it to float downward.

"Looks like the Crystal we found earlier," Chuck observed. "Only yellow."

"And shaped like a star," Amelia added and pulled out her scroll-shaped object. "I'm going to send a picture of this to Cliff using my AVA."

There was a brief flash of light, and the AVA's holographic screen contained an image of the crystal. Then after Amelia sent it to Cliff, she waited a few minutes before a text message appeared on the AVA.

"According to Cliff, this one's known as the Sun Crystal," Amelia said reading the text. "It supposedly contained enough power to generate the whole Research Facility without running out of energy."

"Until Lyric's robots decided to unplug the entire system," Chuck stated.

"But now that it's running again, Sonny and Miles should have no problem using that time machine," Amelia realized. "Let's see them off before they go."

"Sounds like a good idea," Chuck agreed and followed Amelia downward.

###

In the chamber below, Sonny and Miles heard the generator rumbling above them. Meanwhile, MAIA plugged herself into a nearby device.

" _Setting coordinates and activating time portal now,_ " MAIA announced. " _Will send you through once my calculations are complete._ "

"Not…so…fast."

Sonny and Miles looked to see a guy about Sonny's age with spiky black hair that had red highlights wearing a black vest with white fur underneath, black shorts, red-and-black wristbands accessorized by gold rings that also wrapped around his ankles which were protected by red pads over his red black and white shoes.

"Shawn!" Sonny exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"And what's that thing on your head?" Miles asked, pointing to a silver headset Shawn wore that had three glowing gems on it.

"It kind of does look like a tiara." Sonny laughed. "Are you going through a princess phase or something?"

"Silence!" Shawn ordered. "You…will…not…pass…through…that…portal."

"And why's that?" Sonny said sarcastically.

"Because…I…will…defeat…you!"

Then Shawn vanished and reappeared behind Sonny where he kicked him in the head. Sonny went flying but he quickly recovered by spinning into a ball and hitting Shawn in the chest. He fell backwards, allowing Miles to fire at the headset with his wrist laser. Unfortunately, Shawn blocked the laser blasts with his wristbands and vanished again.

"This is getting kind of old, Shawn!" Sonny whined. "I know your warping ability has a limited range, unless you have a Chaos Emerald on hand."

He spotted Shawn slinking in the shadows nearby and dashed toward him. Immediately, Shawn vanished and appeared next to Miles where he picked him up by the neck.

"What…is…Chaos…Emerald?" Shawn demanded.

"Put my friend down!" Sonny insisted. "This isn't like you, Shawn, and how can you not know what Chaos Emeralds are?"

Before Shawn could respond, an echoing scream caused him to look up before something fell on top of him. It was Stilla, and she used her boomerang to hit Shawn's headset which caused the gems to stop glowing. As a result, Shawn let go of Miles and passed out.

"Stilla," Miles muttered as he held his throat. "You were supposed to stay in the village."

"Yeah, but this adventure you guys are having seemed way too good to miss out on," Stilla claimed as she got off of Shawn and helped Miles up. "And I just saved your life. Doesn't that count for something?"

Miles looked embarrassed. "Well, sort of, but—

A groaning noise caught Stilla by surprise as Shawn started to wake up. "Ah! I didn't knock the bad man out hard enough!"

She prepared to attack him again, but Miles held her back.

"Hold on, Stilla," Miles urged. "This guy normally doesn't attack us."

"With some exceptions," Sonny reminded Miles.

"What happened?" Shawn muttered as he got to his feet.

"You attacked me and Miles," Sonny explained. "And briefly forgot what a Chaos Emerald is."

Confused, Shawn touched the headset and removed it. "What's this?"

"I'm not sure," Miles said as he took the headset from Shawn's hands. "But if I had to guess…it looks to be some kind of mind-control device, based on how you behaved."

"I remember receiving orders from G. U. N. to shadow Eggman, after he crashed through the atmosphere in his Egg Mobile," Shawn described. "Then I got here yesterday, found Eggman near some temple, was heading back to the village when this weird man showed up and talked to me. He called himself Lyric, and asked if I could help him look for the 'Chaos Crystals'. Naturally, I refused but after that…my mind's drawing a blank."

"He must've put this thing on you when you weren't looking," Sonny figured, grabbing the device from Miles and twirling it around his finger.

"And probably manipulated you into shutting the generator off to get this Chaos Crystal and bring it to Lyric," Amelia concluded. She had grabbed onto Chuck earlier and the two of them had descended down through the hole after Stilla had leaped in, having reached the bottom just now. She pulled the Sun Crystal out from the bandages around her waist and gave it to Sonny.

"That would make sense," Sonny nodded, examining the Sun Crystal while still twirling the headset in his other hand.

" _Calculations complete,_ " MAIA said, causing everyone to look at her. " _Portal is open and ready to receive passengers._ "

"We need to go, Sonny," Miles stated while grabbing Sonny's arm. "Or we'll never get that map for the Chaos Crystals."

"Oh, right," Sonny remembered and gave the Sun Crystal back to Amelia. "Wish me luck!"

Amelia was about to say something when Sonny tossed the headset away and ran straight into the glowing circle at the center of the circular device while Miles followed him.

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8: Interruption

Chapter 8: Interruption

On the other side of the portal, Sonny found himself in a large facility with a number of tubes. But in the tube next to him stood Miles who was banging on the glass door.

"Looks like MAIA's calculations were a little off," Sonny observed.

" _Get me out of here, Sonny!_ " Miles shouted. " _There are burning wires in here, and it's getting uncomfortably warm._ "

Then next to Miles a large piece of metal started moving towards him being pulled along on a conveyer belt above. Moving away from it, Miles leaped over the burning wires while Sonny moved walls that were blocking his way by tugging on handles located along the tube with his Ener-Beam. Eventually, he found a handle that unlocked a door allowing Miles to step out before the metal piece hit him.

"Whew! That was close," Miles remarked. "I could've been crushed by that metal slab, or burnt alive by those wires."

"Then it's a good thing I got you out," Sonny said and noticed an entrance protected by an energy barrier made up of hexagonal shapes. "So how do we get past this thing?"

"With my Buddy Bot," Miles stated and pulled out a small robot with a pincer-like mouth and two legs. "He could probably fit into this hole right here."

Next to the entrance was a small opening which Miles placed the Buddy Bot next to. After pressing a button, the Buddy Bot activated and crawled into the hole without too much difficulty. Then on the other side, it approached a control module and exploded. This caused the control module to be destroyed and the barrier to dissipate.

"Nice," Sonny smiled. "Now let's keep moving."

###

After traversing through a room with gears and tubes, the two entered a room where they found MAIA who looked newer than before watching over a pair of robots who were standing at a control module nearby.

"Hey, MAIA!" Sonny said, getting MAIA's attention. "Nice to see you again."

MAIA turned around and shined a blue ray on Sonny and Miles. " _Lifeforms not recognized._ "

"Oh, right," Sonny thought for a moment. "My friend and I are from the future, sent by you through a time portal to find a map that can show where the Chaos Crystals are."

" _And why do you need this map?_ " MAIA asked.

"To stop Lyric, who sets out to destroy the world after being imprisoned for a thousand years," Miles explained.

" _I'm not sure whether you're telling the truth or not, but Lyric is building an army of robots right now to wipe out all organic life on the planet as we speak,_ " MAIA stated with a sense of urgency. " _There is one weapon that can stop him, but unfortunately I can't access it. If you two can help me, I'll bring you to the map room._ "

"Sounds like a deal to me," Sonny said and ran into a nearby door while Miles followed.

Together, they traversed a room which had a glass-tiled floor and spinning lasers. After unlocking three patterns in the glass-tiled floor and destroying two control modules with Buddy Bots, they were able to activate the energy-powered Zip-line in the room MAIA was in. Using their Ener-Beams, Sonny and Miles traversed over to a platform which overlooked a giant robot being constructed. Overhead, a figure floated around wearing a red metallic suit and speaking in a familiar voice.

"Those Ancients will regret the day they hid the Chaos Crystals from me," Lyric was saying as he examined the robot's head. "Now that I have the map, I shall take the Crystals and use them destroy the weak organic lifeforms that occupy this world to replace them with my better mechanical wonders."

"That doesn't sound good," Miles said to Sonny.

"Yeah, he's like an extreme version of Eggman," Sonny concurred. "We've got to do something before he enacts his plan."

"Agreed."

###

Once Lyric had left, Sonny and Miles traversed to the very top of the big robot using a convenient Zip-line. There, they defeated a bunch of Lyric's robots before opening the back of the giant robot's neck with their Ener-Beams. It was then that MAIA appeared and said, " _Thank you, blue-haired boy and yellow-haired friend. I will take it from here._ "

Next, MAIA went inside the robot's head and after a brief shutter one of the robot's hands moved till its palm was level with Miles and Sonny.

" _With this Sentinel under my control, I can now stop Lyric from destroying the world,_ " MAIA's voice echoed from the giant robot. " _At this point in time, anyway._ "

"Yeah, we've still got a future to save," Sonny reminded MAIA. "So can you take us to the map room?"

" _Hop onto the Sentinel's hand,_ " MAIA ordered.

Without questioning her, Sonny and Miles got on. The Sentinel's hand rotated till it came to a nearby platform.

" _You'll find the map room through that door,_ " MAIA said. " _May the odds be in your favor_ _!_ "

After giving her a brief salute, Miles and Sonny left MAIA and went through an automatic door which turned out to be an elevator as the floor started moving downward. The two were silent for a while until a sudden rumble caused the elevator to stop and the door opened revealing a large circular room where Lyric was looking at a holographic map in sphere form.

"What's going on?" Lyric asked out loud as the rumbling noise grew louder.

" _It seems one of the MAIA units has gone rogue and taken control of the Sentinel,_ " said a small yellow robot with big eyes and dog-like ears.

"How did she do it, Q-N-C?" Lyric demanded. "That area is strictly off-limits to any unit or thing except me and you."

"Not to us," Sonny announced, stepping forward though Miles cowered behind him. "Shows how lousy your security is."

Lyric scuffed and turned to face Sonny. "Your tone reminds me of a certain meddlesome hedgehog I grew to hate. Even your hair is the same color as his quills."

This caused Sonny to smirk. "What if I told you that I am him, from this version of Mobius."

While Miles gave Sonny a confused expression, he in turn dashed at Lyric who fell backwards from the impact. During this, Miles went over to the holographic map and put down his AVA. In an instant, the hologram vanished as it appeared on Miles' AVA causing him to close the device.

"I've got the map!" Miles said to Sonny who had just spin-dashed Lyric midair. "Now let's get out of here."

Hearing him, Sonny followed Miles toward the elevator door and leaned his head back to Lyric. "See you in a thousand years, snake-face!"

Angered, Lyric flew toward Sonny and Miles but was unable to catch them before they got into the elevator and left.

###

Back in their own time, Sonny and Miles joined up with Amelia Chuck and Stilla at the excavation site where they learned Shawn had taken off to look for Lyric after they went into the time portal.

"Guess he got mad about being brainwashed," Sonny figured. "We should go find him in case he gets in trouble again."

"Not until after we've found the Chaos Crystals first," Miles said.

"That's what we should be concentrating on," Chuck concurred. "Otherwise, Lyric will have another shot at destroying life as we know it."

"Chuck's right for once," Amelia agreed. "Let's put Shawn on the back-burner for now until Lyric is dealt with."

"I'll go after Shawn," Stilla volunteered. "Since you guys seem pretty busy, anyway."

"Okay, but don't attack him like last time," Miles instructed.

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try." Stilla then took out her boomerang and waved it around like a wand. "Oh, Sticks the Jungle Badger, show me where the not bad-bad man is."

"Is that another one of your imaginary friends?" Sonny asked.

"No, she's real," Stilla insisted. "If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to survive in the jungle for long."

Before Sonny could question Stilla further, she took off without saying another word.

"That was weird," Miles said scratching the side of his head.

"Seems no different then any of her crazy stories," Amelia sighed. "Now let's get going before Lyric gets the jump on us."

"I'll second that," replied Chuck.

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9: Pit

Chapter 9: Pit

Finding another gate, Sonny and the others placed the Sun Crystal into the slot which opened automatically. On the other side, they came upon a lake where a sailor named Salty stood. He offered to trade them his boat in exchange for spare parts that were needed to repair it. After finding them, the four were given a strange circular boat with a control panel in the pilot's seat and three extra seats mounted by guns.

"Sweet!" Chuck said, sitting in the pilot's chair. "This looks easy enough."

Amelia groaned. "Fine, I'll take the gunner seat then."

"Let me know if you're having problems and we'll switch," Miles offered as he sat in the seat opposite from Amelia's. "I may be more familiar with airplanes, but they're not that different from boats."

Sonny looked at the water nervously before getting into the front gunner seat.

"Something bothering you, young man?" Salty asked.

"Uh, no, I'm fine," Sonny fibbed.

"Then take her out slowly," Salty said to Chuck. "The _Riptide_ 's not as sturdy as she used to be, but the repairs I've made with the spare parts you gave me should help. Have a nice ride!"

The four waved to Salty as Chuck drove the boat away from the dock and towards the river. As they floated downstream, a shadow hovered over them.

"Eggman!" Sonny exclaimed, recognizing the Egg Mobile. "How did you find us so quickly?"

"Let's just say I had help from a new friend by the name of Lyric," Eggman bragged.

"You've never made friends with anyone," Miles chuckled. "Even during those times when we did work together."

"Okay, here's the deal: Lyric's willing to let me live if I can bring back the map of the Chaos Crystals," Eggman said irritably. "Now hand it over and I'll leave you four alone."

"Not a chance, egghead," Sonny said as he aimed the gun at him. "Take this!"

Instead of gunfire, the gun spewed a fountain of water at Eggman's face.

"Whoops," Sonny muttered and looked up at Eggman who was dripping wet.

Eggman wiped the water from his face with a gloved hand. "Is that all you've got? I can do better than that!"

Then with the push of a button, Eggman sent bombs straight toward the _Riptide_. In retaliation, Chuck pushed the boat backwards giving Sonny enough room to spew concentrated water at the Egg Mobile. As electric sparks erupted, Eggman flew over an ancient levy that was guarded by turrets which produced electric snakes which swam in the _Riptide_ 's direction.

"Ugh, _more_ snakes," Chuck flinched.

"Maybe if we shoot them with water, their circuits will eventually shorten out and die," Miles guessed and fired at the ones that came closest to him.

Amelia and Sonny did the same, allowing them to defeat the snakes easily. But as the turrets kept producing more, Miles learned that the concentration and volume of water on his gun could be altered. Setting it to a stronger level, the water was able to destroy the nearest turret easily. Seeing this, Sonny followed Miles' example and destroyed the other turret. When this happened, the levy lowered revealing another beyond it.

After passing several more levies and turrets, Sonny and his friends encountered Eggman again who started shooting bombs at them. They in turn fired more blasts of water at him, but failed to see the waterfall beyond. Eggman quickly noticed and watched as the _Riptide_ plummeted over the edge with Sonny and the others screaming in terror.

###

At the bottom, the _Riptide_ crashed into a small island which connected to another ancient road. Fortunately, Sonny Miles Amelia and Chuck weren't badly hurt and able to continue. They followed the ancient road to another jungle which in turn led to a large pit in the ground.

"What the heck is this?" Sonny wondered.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm not going down there," Amelia said shaking her head. "I think I'll go along the ridge instead. Coming, Miles?"

"Sure," Miles agreed, following Amelia along the edge of the pit.

"Looks like it's just you and me, big guy," Sonny remarked to Chuck. "Try to keep up."

While Sonny leaped down into the pit, Chuck gritted his teeth before following him. At the bottom, they found several of Lyric's robots lurking around and decided to pummel them into scrap metal before halting in front of a large robot that was being repaired by two smaller robots.

"Excuse me," Sonny said, getting the smaller robots' attentions. "My friend and I are looking for a way out of this pit. Mind giving us some directions?"

The robots responded by changing their screwdriver-shaped arms into energy swords.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" Sonny then jumped up into the air and spin-dashed into one robot.

"Hey, no fair!" Chuck complained and charged at the second one with his fists raised. "I call dibs on this one!"

After pummeling both robots into pieces, Chuck and Sonny attempted to drag the bigger robot out of the ground using their Ener-Beams. Instead, the big robot activated itself as three arms appeared underneath and began to drill into the ground while more of Lyric's robots appeared.

"Nice going, Sonny," Chuck glared. "Now we've got a big robot to deal with _and_ a bunch of smaller ones as well."

"Hold on, I think I've got an idea," Sonny blinked. "Just follow my lead."

Using his Ener-Beam, Sonny pulled one of the hovering robots toward him and threw it at the big robot's arms. The impact caused a slight shutter, but the robot kept drilling.

"Not a bad plan," Chuck remarked. "But it needs more manpower!"

Lassoing one of the human-sized robots, Chuck tossed it at the big robot's arms causing one of them to fall off. Irked by this, Sonny did the same which made Chuck try to outdo him afterwards. Following this pattern, they not only defeated all the smaller robots but also break the arms off the big robot which suddenly stopped working and left a gaping hole underneath it.

"Something tells me this robot wasn't just digging for fun," Sonny said and jumped into the hole. "Last one to reach the bottom's a rotten Eggman!"

"Not if I can help it!" Chuck objected as he leaped in after Sonny.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10: Unearthed

Chapter 10: Unearthed

At the bottom of the hole, Sonny and Chuck found themselves in a dark tunnel. Moving along the sides, the two eventually came to a dead end marked by a large boulder.

"Hold on, Chuck," Sonny said and stretched his legs. "I've got this."

Taking a few steps back, Sonny poised his feet and then ran into the boulder that blocked their path. It didn't break, and his head felt sore after the impact. Concerned, Chuck propped Sonny against the side of the tunnel and flexed his fingers.

"You know, speed isn't always the answer," Chuck said, clenching one fist. "Sometimes, a little punch is all it takes."

Thrusting forward, Chuck punched the boulder so hard that it crumbled into smaller pieces. Amazed, Sonny stood up and saw that the tunnel let out into the open air once more where a large wooden structure stood.

"We must be further down in the pit," Sonny guessed, rubbing his forehead. "This place is crawling with Lyric's robots."

"A perfect playground for us, then," Chuck remarked and turned to Sonny. "Unless you're still recovering from hitting your head against that boulder."

"No, I'll be fine," Sonny assured.

"Then let's go!" Chuck said as he slapped Sonny on the back so hard that he nearly fell over.

The two made their way down from the tunnel's entrance and up to the wooden structure. After taking out several of Lyric's robots, the two eventually met up with Amelia and Miles in a fenced off area with a circular floor.

"About time you guys showed up," Miles stated. "Amelia and I went on this awesome mine cart ride that took us all over the pit."

"Yeah, and not a single one of Lyric's robots noticed us," Amelia added.

"That's cool, but I got to punch a boulder after Sonny got tuckered out," Chuck bragged, flexing the arm he used for punching.

"Which happened after we destroyed a giant robot that was digging a hole in the ground," Sonny reminded wearily.

"That's odd," Miles scratched his chin. "What could be here that Lyric would go through all this trouble to dig up?"

"Maybe another Chaos Crystal," Amelia suggested. "He's probably still looking for them despite not having the map."

Just then a low but growing hum caught everyone's attention. They soon noticed a giant fan on the other side of the fenced off area which started spinning. As it spun faster, the four felt a strong gust of wind that was pushing them backwards.

"Hold on, guys!" Sonny said, reaching his hands out. "I think we're gonna—

The gust suddenly turned into a gale, which sent Sonny and the others flying through a tunnel that suddenly opened up behind them. They fell through a pipe and landed on a mine cart rail with neon arrows along the track.

"Good thing this was here," Amelia noted as she got up slowly, looking over the edge nervously. "Or we would be goners."

"No kidding," Miles nodded as he helped Sonny up.

While Chuck sat up and rubbed his head, something burst from the rock wall nearby. Startled, the four looked and saw a giant mechanical worm wiggling out of the hole it created before setting its green eyes on them.

"Run!" Sonny cried, dashing forward.

The others followed his example and ran along the mine track while avoiding the mechanical worm which kept popping out of the ground.

"Where did this thing come from?" Amelia asked as she kept running.

"I bet Lyric sent it to finish us off, or look for a Chaos Crystal and we're just in its path," Miles guessed as he activated his propeller apparatus.

Then as the mine track came to an abrupt end, Sonny and the others found themselves falling again. They landed on a ledge containing a structure where a red heart-shaped crystal floated.

"Look!" Chuck pointed. "I think that's another Chaos Crystal."

"Sure looks like one," Sonny observed. "But we'll find out soon enough."

As Sonny walked forward to grab the crystal, the mechanical worm suddenly appeared right below the structure and used its pincer-like mouth to swallow the crystal whole.

"Well, that's just great!" Chuck snapped, and noticed some floating robots heading toward them. "And more of Lyric's robots just showed up."

As the four attempted to fend off the floating robots, the mechanical worm opened its mouth to suck air in before striking the platform with its pincers. Fortunately, everyone evaded the worm's attack but this gave Miles an idea.

"Guys!" Miles shouted. "We need to throw the smaller robots into the worm's mouth with our Ener-Beams! It'll shorten its circuits and slow it down faster!"

"Gotcha!" Sonny acknowledged and lassoed the nearest robot with his Ener-Beam. "Chuck and I used the same technique to defeat the big robot we encountered earlier."

"Except we threw the robots at its arms and not its mouth," Chuck corrected before lassoing a robot himself.

Amelia and Miles did this too, and they threw the robots they caught into the worm's mouth which it sucked up before striking them. After doing this several times, the robot hung its head in a limp manner.

"Okay, now grab its pincers!" Miles ordered and shot his Ener-Beam at the nearest pincer.

The others followed Miles example, and together they pulled the worm's head down towards them. Then they took turns destroying the worm's green eye, which caused it to erupt in sparks and become completely dead. After that, the crystal floated from its mouth and hovered close to Sonny and his friends.

"We did it," Sonny said as he grabbed the crystal. "Now let's get back to Cliff and find out where the next gate is."

###

At the excavation site, Cliff told them that the red crystal was known as the Flame Crystal and the gate for it was located near Doc Ginger's tent. So the four went there and after putting the Flame Crystal in the slot, the gate opened revealing a metallic wooden road similar to the ancient ones they had been following. They then followed this road, which took them to a circular structure where a blue and gold-colored biplane stood with propellers sandwiched between the wings instead of having one in the front.

"Not too shabby for being buried a thousand years ago, huh?"

The four turned around and saw Cliff walking up to them, though he looked to be out of breath.

Looking between the biplane and Cliff, Miles said, "Did you—

"I thought this might help you four get around a little faster," Cliff explained. "So the miners offered to finish digging it up as a way of showing their gratitude for what you did in the Mines."

"Well, that's…awfully nice of them," Sonny admitted.

"Now the next Crystal is supposedly located across the sea from here," Miles remembered. "So we could definitely use this biplane to get there."

As Miles prepared to run over toward the plane, Cliff held him back.

"You may be familiar with planes, Miles, but I'm pretty sure you're not familiar with Ancients' technology enough to fly one of their devices," Cliff warned. "Now I'm coming along to teach you, and then I'll drop you four off once we reach the Crystal's location. Sound good?"

"Oh, all right," Miles agreed reluctantly.

While he got into one of the cockpits, Cliff sat in the other. As for Sonny, he stood on the plane's front while Amelia and Chuck held onto the wings. After Cliff gave Miles brief instructions, he started up the plane and sent it flying into the air.

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11: Distraction

Chapter 11: Distraction

As the biplane flew smoothly across the ocean, its five passengers watched the beach of the island before them coming closer with a lighthouse-like structure standing nearby.

"This is where I drop you off!" Cliff shouted to Sonny who was balancing on the biplane's front. "Now when I count to three, jump!"

Sonny nodded and waited for the countdown while Amelia Chuck and Miles stood up.

Once Cliff said, 'three' the four jumped off the plane and landed on a sandy road while Cliff steered the plane back to the excavation site on the island they just came from.

"Who knew there would be a Chaos Crystal located on Bygone Island," Amelia remarked as they approached a high wall. "Let's see if anyone in the village knows anything."

"And maybe check on Stilla while we're here," Miles added. "Assuming she found Shawn while we were away."

###

In the village, though, Stilla was nowhere to be found. So the four examined some ruins nearby which led to another ancient road that wound around a dormant volcano and brought them to a lake containing several platforms made of rust. They got onto these just as a large ship suddenly appeared overhead. From it emerged several robots which made their way up a nearby cliff into a cave.

"Those looked like Lyric's robots," Chuck noticed.

"They must be looking for the same Chaos Crystal we are," Miles realized. "Let's follow them."

The others agreed and made their way across the lake to the cliff which they scaled with ease and entered the cave which contained moss-covered rocks and pools. Using a convenient Zip-line, the four made their way through the cave on their Ener-Beams to a chamber which held a white crystal inside an energy-powered cage.

"That must be the Crystal up there!" Amelia pointed. "We need to get it down somehow."

"I know what to do," Sonny said, eyeing a handle and shooting his Ener-Beam at it.

Chuck did the same to the other handle but instead of releasing the crystal a hexagonal force-field went up and several of Lyric's robots appeared.

"Nice going, guys," Amelia grumbled while summoning the Piko Hammer. "You've set off a trap the robots set for us."

"But the funny thing about traps is…you can always find a way out of them!" Sonny argued and kicked the closest robot.

While the other three did the same, they managed to beat the robots more easily which in turn made the hexagonal force-field go away.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Amelia said, "Okay, let's try that again."

Using her Ener-Beam, Amelia pulled on the left handle while Sonny took the right. Together, they released the crystal from its cage allowing it to float down toward them.

"This one's really shiny," Miles said. "Stilla would go nuts if we showed it to her."

"Yeah, she would," Amelia remarked as she looked down at her AVA. "Cliff says it's called the Radiant Crystal, and the gate for it is in the Bygone Island village."

"That's super convenient," Sonny stated as he took the Radiant Crystal. "Let's go!"

###

Once they unlocked the gate, the four approached the farmlands area of Bygone Island which contained sunflowers and pink-colored plants growing in raised stone gardens below wooden houses on stilts. Still holding the Radiant Crystal, Sonny noticed two strange figures up ahead and leaned against the nearby cliff.

"It's Eggman," Miles realized and followed Sonny's example.

"And Lyric," Amelia added, shuttering slightly as she leaned against Sonny.

"So they really are working together," Chuck said clenching his fists while Amelia pulled him next to her.

"They're here because of this." Sonny looked down at the Radiant Crystal and sighed. "I need to draw them away, so you guys don't get hurt."

Then as Sonny was about to step forward, Miles held him back. "We're in this together, Sonny, so _we_ are going to distract them and not just you."

Sonny paused for a moment, and nodded.

Then he stepped out into the lane and waved toward Eggman and Lyric. "Hey, Egghead! Snake-face! If you want this Chaos Crystal, come and get it!"

Seeing him, Eggman flew his Egg Mobile down the lane while Lyric floated in his suit. Before they got close, Sonny tossed the Radiant Crystal up to Miles who flew over Eggman and Lyric's heads with his propeller apparatus. Unfortunately, the two noticed and tried to intercept Miles when he threw the Radiant Crystal to Amelia who leaped from house to house before throwing it to Chuck who was climbing along the cliff opposite of her. Then Sonny dashed past Eggman and Lyric to catch the Radiant Crystal from Chuck's hands and ran toward an ancient road in front of him. Meanwhile Chuck, Miles, and Amelia regrouped and followed Sonny while Lyric and Eggman sought to catch up to them.

Together, Sonny and his friends traversed through a series of ancient ruins while tossing the Radiant Crystal between them. As this was going on, Lyric and Eggman flew overhead shooting energy beams and rockets in their direction. But as the action got intense, Eggman accidentally rammed his Egg Mobile into Lyric causing them both to fall into the river next to the ancient road Sonny and the others ran along allowing them to get away.

###

Later, the four took a paddleboat to a village at the end of the river which was completely decimated and no one was in sight.

"This is awful," Amelia frowned. "Who could've done so much destruction to one village?"

"Could've been Eggman while he wasn't busy kissing Lyric's behind," Chuck suggested.

"Or Lyric because he's too eager to destroy organic life despite not having any of the Chaos Crystals," Miles thought.

"But they were knocked out not too long ago," Sonny reminded everyone. "So this has got to be the work of someone else, or something."

Following the trail of destruction, the four came upon another cave but this one was filled with giant stalactites and Lyric's robots.

"Guess it was Lyric who destroyed the village, after all," Chuck said as he swung his fists right and left.

"I'm not sure," Miles doubted. "The scorch marks we found don't match the ones left after Lyric used his green energy-beam projectiles. But they don't look like blasts left by Eggman's rockets, either."

While Miles continued to ponder, they came to a room with a giant hammer and three buttons. Activating the giant hammer with a handle pulled by an Ener-Beam, the three buttons lit up in a particular pattern before fading.

"Uh, did anyone follow that?" Chuck asked, scratching his head furiously.

"Leave it to me," Amelia said eagerly. "And my Piko Hammer!"

Using the hammer, she hit the buttons in the correct order which opened a nearby door showing a chamber containing a glowing green crystal.

Amelia's eyes widened. "If that's not a Chaos Crystal, I don't know what it is."

Excited, the four entered the chamber and were about to approach the crystal when a part of the wall burst open next to them. Next, Metal Sonny flew in and grabbed the crystal before flying away. Surprised, Sonny and the others ran after him.

"It was Metal Sonny!" Miles gasped. "He was the one who destroyed that village to lure us into that chamber so we could locate the Chaos Crystal for him."

Sonny gritted his teeth. "He's not getting away with this, and I'm going to make sure of it!"

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12: Underwater

Chapter 12: Underwater

Following Metal Sonny along another ancient road that ran across a river, Sonny and the others kept pace with him until he turned around and sent a destructive laser-beam from his chest downward. It didn't hit Sonny and his friends, but the beam did destroy the road and sent them flying into the air. Fortunately, they landed on the other side intact while Metal Sonny flew past them and levitated three glowing orbs around him.

"Oh, so you want to play ball?" Sonny teased. "Then batter up!"

Not responding, Metal Sonny threw the first orb which Sonny kicked back. It hit Metal Sonny's chest, causing sparks to fly and him to fly further back. So Sonny caught up to Metal Sonny and repeated this pattern two more times. Once the third ball hit him, Metal Sonny crashed on the road and dropped the Chaos Crystal he was carrying.

"Sweet!" Sonny remarked, and picked the green-colored crystal up with his feet.

"Now we've got five Chaos Crystals while Lyric still has zero," Miles remarked.

"Still, I can't help but wonder why Metal Sonny wanted the Chaos Crystal," Amelia said looking at Metal Sonny's limp form. "Was he acting on Doctor Eggman's orders, or someone else's?"

"Ah, who cares!" Chuck shrugged. "We beat him and got a Crystal. Plain and simple."

###

Back at the Bygone Island village, Miles contacted Cliff and learned the crystal they found was called the Verdant Crystal. He also learned the lighthouse-shaped structure in Bygone Island's Coral Bay was where the next gate was located. Heading there after leaping over several floating platforms, Sonny Miles Amelia and Chuck came to an open space with a patterned floor and a slot in the same shape as the Verdant Crystal's. After placing the crystal inside, the giant circle in the middle of the floor loosened after four metal pieces lifted up.

"Whoa," Miles said in awe and scanned the circle with his AVA. "It's some kind of elevator that will take us directly to where the next Chaos Crystal is."

"Hey, I have an idea," Amelia said taking Sonny's hand. "While Sonny and I take the elevator, you and Chuck can go look for Stilla."

"I would be willing to do that," Miles offered. "But someone should guard the Bygone Island village in case Eggman or Lyric decide to attack it."

Chuck raised his hand. "I'll do it! Those mad geniuses won't know what'll hit 'em if they try to mess with me."

Sonny gave Chuck a doubtful look, and then nodded. "You do that. Amelia and I will be back before you know it."

Then Sonny dragged Amelia onto the giant circle which descended slowly after they stepped onto it. After some time had passed, the two found themselves in a glass tube that was underwater.

"Are we at the bottom of the ocean?" Amelia pondered as she looked outside. "This is crazy."

" _Welcome to the Ocean Purification Plant_ ," said a robotic voice nearby. " _How may I be of service to you?_ "

Sonny and Amelia looked to see a small yellow robot with big eyes, dog-like ears, and riding on a unicycle wheel.

Sonny's brow furrowed. "You're Q-N-C, right?"

Hearing that, the robot flinched. " _Why, yes! H-How did you know?_ "

"Saw you standing next to Lyric when I went time-traveling not too long ago," Sonny answered as he prepared to run. "Is he here now?"

" _I haven't served Lyric since he was imprisoned,_ " the robot known as Q-N-C explained. " _Cliff found me one day and worked on reprogramming my systems as a side-project apart from the excavations he's been conducting with you guys. Well, he succeeded and has asked me to show you around this place in the hopes of finding the Chaos Crystal you seek._ "

"And where is it?" Amelia asked.

" _Right over there,_ " Q-N-C pointed.

Amelia and Sonny looked a few tubes ahead of them where a glowing turquoise crystal shaped like a giant ring hovered in the middle of a device that produced yellow beams pointing to the crystal itself.

" _That one is called the Tidal Crystal,_ " Q-N-C stated. " _For obvious reasons._ "

"All right," Sonny said rubbing his hands together. "Piece of cake!"

Dashing through an adjoining tube, Sonny and Amelia came into the chamber where the Tidal Crystal was held. Using his Ener-Beam, Sonny pulled on a handle which rotated some knobs along the device which turned the yellow beams off and allowed him to grab the Tidal Crystal safely.

"Is it just me, or was that too easy?" Amelia said to Sonny as he held the Tidal Crystal.

There was a sudden rumble and an angry jellyfish-shaped robot appeared on the other side of the device while Q-N-C shuttered nervously.

"What is that?" Sonny said flinching.

" _It's the Guardian!_ " Q-N-C exclaimed. " _Run for your lives!_ "

Then as Q-N-C fled, Sonny and Amelia ran down the nearest corridor to keep ahead of the Guardian as it chased them. Though several doors closed behind them, it wasn't enough to stop the Guardian until one door caused the robot to cease.

"Whew!" Amelia sighed. "Let's not do that again, shall we?"

"Yeah, but now we're completely lost," Sonny said looking at the giant room before them containing large windows showing the ocean outside.

"I'm sure we'll find a way," Amelia smirked.

The two looked around and eventually uncovered a hidden path to a room filled with toxic waste being processed. While Amelia covered her nose, Sonny charged forward and found a platform containing two glowing handles.

"Maybe if we connect those pipes, we can drain the toxic waste out of here," Sonny figured, shooting his Ener-Beam at one handle. "You're going to need both hands, Amelia."

"I know," Amelia muttered, and held her breath as she shot her Ener-Beam at the other handle.

As they attempted to pull the pipes down, the Guardian emerged from the toxic waste. Instantly, the two lassoed the Guardian's feet with their Ener-Beams and tossed him back into the pool of toxic waste before trying to connect the pipes again.

While Amelia released the air she had been holding in, Sonny pressed a green button which drained the toxic waste completely.

"There's no sign of our Guardian friend anywhere," Sonny observed, looking at the bottom of the pool. "Think he ran away?"

"I'm pretty sure he's just hiding," Amelia said wearily. "Now let's get out of here."

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13: Then and Now

Chapter 13: Then and Now

Eventually, Sonny and Amelia found a way out of the toxic waste area only to be chased by the Guardian again. They managed to get away from it by locking a door behind them, and from there the two entered a giant area with water flowing from the sides and coral growing on the rocky cliffs despite not being submerged.

"Wow," Amelia said with awe. "Have you seen anything more beautiful than this?"

"I've seen a lot of amazing things," Sonny replied. "But this is nice."

Amelia took a deep breath to get the scent of the toxic waste out of her nostrils. "Let's take a moment to soak it in, since nothing's chasing us at the moment."

"Um, okay."

After the moment had passed, Sonny flipped through the air toward a floating boat on the left side while Amelia followed him.

"What do you think is keeping the ocean at bay?" Sonny wondered as he watched the water flowing in a circular direction around them.

"Probably the Crystal," Amelia suggested. "It must be controlling the tides somehow."

"Hence why it's called the Tidal Crystal," Sonny realized.

"Yeah, that's what Q-N-C meant."

Pulling on a handle using an Ener-Beam, Sonny was able to fire a cannon at the wall opposite of them next to a large anchor that was hanging from the top. This led Amelia to go to a similar boat that was floating a few feet up on the right and fire its cannon to crumble the other side of the wall. Afterwards, they made their way to a lever which lifted the anchor upward. Then they took separate paths to climb up the wall and found themselves on a much larger ship facing a glass door on the other side of a chasm. Using a ramp, Sonny and Amelia leaped across the chasm and went through the glass door which led to a new area that required them to go upward. At the top they found a submarine that was partially submerged in the water.

"Good thing it's a two-seater," Sonny remarked. "Otherwise, you would've had to sit on my lap while I drove."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Amelia said and kissed Sonny on the cheek. "But I'll take the second seat if you're more comfortable."

Initially, Sonny was stunned but then he quickly followed Amelia into the submarine. Carefully, they submerged it and navigated through a series of underwater tunnels while avoiding falling rocks and shooting at mines with harpoons. Once they were out in the open sea, the two cried for joy and hugged one another.

"Nice job, Amy—I mean, Amelia." Embarrassed, Sonny avoided Amelia's stare.

"There you go saying, 'Amy' again," Amelia frowned. "Is that a nickname for me, or another girl you're dating behind my back?"

"No, it's—

Before Sonny got the chance to finish, the submarine's defense system alarm went off. Amelia looked behind and was surprised to see three copies of the same Guardian they encountered before swimming in their direction.

"I guess our Guardian had friends," Amelia stated as she aimed the submarine's torpedoes at the three Guardians. "We'll talk about this 'Amy' once we're out of the water."

Reluctantly, Sonny nodded and dodged the Guardians' attacks while Amelia shot them.

###

Back on the beach of Coral Bay, Amelia and Sonny regrouped with Miles and Chuck before heading to a nearby slot which the Tidal Crystal fit perfectly into. This in turn opened up a road that took them away from Bygone Island to Creeper Gorge which was on a desolate island occupied by sharp rocks and living thorn-covered vines the size of trees.

"So you're telling us that up to your twentieth birthday, we were all possessed by weird humanoid animals since middle school?" Miles said after Sonny had gotten done explaining the 'Amy' thing to Amelia and what he said to Lyric back in the past. "But if that were true, how come I don't remember it?"

"Because we changed the ending of Sonic's world," Sonny explained. "It was still destroyed due to the Dark Gaia cycle, but once Mephiles was defeated Sonic and his friends didn't die horrible deaths which didn't compel Light Gaia to revive them through us."

"Yet we still have some of their powers," Amelia remarked as she summoned the Piko Hammer.

"According to Chip, we're their counterparts on this version of Mobius," Sonny responded. "Which is why we've retained some of their abilities despite no longer being possessed by them."

"And who's Chip?" Chuck asked. "Was he that kid who was tagging along with you when the world's continents split apart?"

"Yeah, it turned out he was Light Gaia the whole time," Sonny muttered. "So when Dark Gaia was defeated, Chip had to be sealed into Mobius' core with him."

"Oh, that's so sad," Amelia replied as she put a hand on Sonny's shoulder. "I wish you had told us sooner."

"Well, it's not like we could've done anything about it," Sonny shrugged. "It was his destiny."

Then Sonny took off into the vine-infested valleys below while the others followed.

###

After taking another ancient road, the four ended up at an abandoned structure with seemingly no entrance to it. So while Sonny and Chuck stayed behind, Miles and Amelia went up along the top and saw Lyric floating inside the structure. He watched as Eggman suddenly came down in a large mech with his Egg Mobile attached to it.

"Leaving so soon?" Eggman taunted. "I thought you might be able to help me with something, 'friend' of mine."

"I have nothing to say to you, worthless pile of flesh," Lyric said as he pressed a blue button next to his chest. When nothing happened, his eyes widened.

"Nice try, Lyric, but your technopathy device won't control this machine since it's manually operated," Eggman grinned, though it quickly turned into a frown. "And speaking of which…where is Metal Sonny?"

"Nothing but scraps, thanks to the real Sonny," Lyric answered bluntly. "I sent him to get one Chaos Crystal for me, and he failed. Just goes to show how much he's like his creator, who is a failure."

"A failure, eh?" Eggman pressed one of the triggers. "Then get a load of this!"

From the back of his mech sprang several rockets which flew straight at Lyric but all of them conveniently missed him.

"Good effort," Lyric said as he floated away. "But you'll never be on the same level as me."

This made Eggman smash his control panel in frustration.

Amelia giggled. "Looks like someone's having a bad day."

"Tell me about it," Miles remarked as the two left the top of the structure.

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14: Bargain

Chapter 14: Bargain

Sneaking past Eggman's mech, Sonny and the others took another ancient road that led through another vine-infested valley then a large lake with a series of ancient buildings arranged in a circular fashion with spheres hovering around.

"Wow, what a place," Miles admired. "It looks like a gigantic model of the solar system."

"I don't think that's what it was built for," Sonny guessed. "But let's check it out, anyway."

The four approached a hemispherical structure that lay at the center which was open-spaced like the lighthouse on Coral Bay with a circular floor. But as soon as they got there, Eggman arrived in his mech.

"Hello, Sonny," Eggman said as the mech landed. "Like the new look?"

"Eh, I've seen better," Sonny remarked.

Growling under his breath, Eggman gripped the controls tightly. "Once I crush you and your friends, I'll defeat that miserable snake-faced freak and show him who's boss when it comes to being a mad genius!"

"Feel free to try, Eggman, but you'll never win!" Sonny said and ran in circles around the mech while the others followed Sonny's example.

"Ugh, hold still!" Eggman demanded as he sent several missiles flying toward them.

In turn, Sonny and his friends lassoed the missiles using their Ener-Beams and sent them flying back at Eggman which caused the mech to come tumbling down. Then while Eggman was unconscious, the four took turns destroying the Egg Mobile until he woke up.

"Blast it!" Eggman cursed. "I'm getting out of here."

As Sonny and the others backed up, Eggman detached the Egg Mobile from the mech and flew away leaving a glowing purple crystal shaped like a stalactite in his place.

"Nice!" Sonny remarked as he picked up the purple crystal. "Eggman left a Chaos Crystal."

"Yep, and this one's apparently known as the Twilight Crystal," Miles nodded, examining the crystal with his AVA.

"Seems like the kind of crystal Eggman would have on hand," Amelia observed.

"How many of these things are there?" Chuck asked.

"According to the map, there are eight total," Miles stated. "We have seven now, so we only need one more."

Chuck glanced at Miles curiously. "And where is it?"

After checking the three-dimensional map, Miles answered, "It's located somewhere along Coral Bay in the opposite direction of that lighthouse structure."

###

Heading back along the same road that took them to Creeper Gorge, Sonny and his friends found a tower-like structure with a slot in front shaped like the Twilight Crystal. After placing the crystal inside the slot, the front door to the structure opened as a beam of light shot up into the sky.

"Awesome," Chuck said in awe.

"Let's go inside," Amelia urged. "I bet there's something in there waiting for us."

"If you say so," Sonny shrugged as he followed Amelia and Chuck into the structure with Miles walking alongside him.

Inside, the same-colored beam of light coming from the top of the tower shot up from the floor which surprised everyone.

"Well, that's new," Miles stated and looked to his friends. "Anyone want to test it?"

"Sure thing, Miles," Chuck replied and ran over to the beam of light without hesitation.

"Wait!" Amelia warned as she tried to catch up with Chuck. "We don't know what that beam of light's made of. It could possibly kill you if—

Before she got to finish her sentence, Amelia was absorbed into the beam of light along with Chuck and the two were taken upward in particle form. When they regained physical form once more, the two were standing on a platform before a floating city in the clouds.

"This is incredible," Amelia muttered while gazing in wonder. "Like an improved version of the Sky Sanctuary on Angel Island."

"Hey, that was built by my ancestors _long_ before the Ancients came about," Chuck argued.

"Right," Amelia remembered. "Still, let's see if the last Chaos Crystal is here."

After unlocking a door by moving lasers, Chuck and Amelia found themselves in a large area with a violet crystal shaped like a triangle hovering inside a containment device.

"That must be it," Amelia guessed.

"But why are there so many lasers?" Chuck asked out loud looking at the platforms floating above and around them. "Seems a little excessive, don't you think?"

"Unless they were put there on purpose," replied Amelia. "Let's move them around and see if anything happens."

"I don't know," Chuck hesitated. "The last time we played with lasers resulted in a criminal from the past being unleashed into the present."

"I'm sure they're the key to unlocking that containment device with the Sky Chaos Crystal inside it," Miles said as he and Sonny appeared.

"How did you two get up here?" Amelia asked.

"With the _Tornado_ ," Sonny answered.

When Amelia and Chuck looked confused, Miles explained, "The Ancients' biplane that Cliff used to bring us to Bygone Island. I told him what was going on, and he brought it over and decided to continue looking for Stilla while we're up here."

"That's awfully generous of him," Amelia smiled. "And I take it you were able to fly the biplane pretty well without Cliff's guidance?"

"I helped a little by acting as Miles' co-pilot," Sonny admitted. "Now I say we split up into two teams: Miles and I will take care of the lasers on this level while you and Chuck take care of the ones higher up."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Amelia agreed and took the nearest Zip-line to the upper level.

"All right," Chuck grumbled. "But don't blame me if something bad comes of this."

###

Once the lasers were all in place, the violet crystal floated down onto the platform beneath the containment device which Sonny caught in his hands. Then as he tossed it to Chuck, several of Lyric's robots suddenly appeared as a menacing but chilling laugh pierced the air.

"It seems you really are this world's version of Sonic, that meddlesome hedgehog which I loathe beyond death," Lyric said as he floated down in his suit. "You've even went so far as to collecting all the Chaos Crystals with that map you stole a thousand years ago, just like he did in my timeline. Therefore, all I had to do was wait until now to take what's rightfully mine."

Sonny frowned. "These Crystals don't belong to you, and I'm certainly not giving them away."

"What about your friends?" Lyric grinned. "Surely, they have a say in this."

As Sonny looked back, Lyric's robots closed in with green light pulsing from their hands. This made Chuck nervous and look down at the Sky Crystal.

"Don't even think about it, Chuck!" Sonny ordered. "We can take these guys on."

Amelia looked between the advancing robots and Sonny who was now completely surrounded with the robots' hands glowing brighter now. "Okay, Lyric! If we give you the Chaos Crystals, let Sonny go."

"Sounds like a reasonable bargain," Lyric conceded and ordered his robots to step back a little.

While Amelia Chuck and Miles emptied their pockets of the Chaos Crystals, Sonny gritted his teeth. "You're making a big mistake, guys! I don't trust Lyric's word on this."

"Sorry, Sonny," Miles apologized as he held his Chaos Crystal-filled hands up while Amelia and Chuck did the same.

Lyric then flexed his claw-like fingers which sent an invisible wave that caused the Chaos Crystals to float from Amelia Chuck and Miles' hands into his.

"Ah, finally," Lyric murmured as his snake-like eyes glimmered in the Chaos Crystals' light. "Now that I have what I need, here's your reward."

Pressing the blue technopathy device on his chest, Lyric floated away as the robots fired their bright green lasers at Sonny and his friends who all collapsed onto the ground and got buried underneath the debris caused by the lasers' explosions. While Lyric laughed maniacally, his robots vanished one by one before he too disappeared. There was a brief period of silence while the high altitude winds blew across the ancient ruins of Sky Citadel. Then four different-colored lights appeared over the pile of debris and took the forms of animals with humanoid features: the first resembled a blue hedgehog, the other a yellow fox with two tails, the third a pink hedgehog, and the fourth appeared as a towering red echidna. The four figures looked at one another, nodded, and then phased through the debris. This was then followed by Sonny and his friends waking up and emerging from the debris intact.

"Why that no-good double-crossing snake!" Amelia growled. "He tricked us!"

Sonny shrugged. "I tried to warn you, Amelia, but—

"You're in no position to argue with me!" argued Amelia. "We were trying to save your life."

"Hey, chill out!" Chuck said coming between the two. "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Chuck's right," Miles agreed as he dusted himself off. "I'm just surprised we're still alive given what Lyric did."

"Yeah, I should be seeing a gaping hole in my chest from those lasers," Amelia observed as she checked herself for obvious wounds. "But there's nothing."

"Maybe those were non-lethal lasers," Sonny suggested.

"Even so, the debris would've crushed us for sure," Miles corrected. "Yet none of us are physically harmed in any way it seems."

"Though I do feel kind of funny," Chuck claimed as he rubbed his head. "Though it might just be altitude sickness."

"Yeah, we are pretty high up," Miles agreed.

"Anyway, let's get back to the _Tornado_ and catch Lyric before he uses those Chaos Crystals to activate his entire robot army," Sonny said.

To be continued...


	15. Chapter 15: Confrontation

Chapter 15: Confrontation

Leaving the Sky Citadel, the four flew the biplane to another island which was barren like Creeper Gorge only this one had dark clouds over it and there were strange red-colored buildings scattered throughout.

"Looks like the kind of place Lyric would hang out at," Sonny observed as Miles attempted to land the _Tornado_ safely. "But I don't see him anywhere."

"Maybe he's hiding, in case we showed up," Chuck guessed.

Then lasers fired from the ground causing one of the plane's propellers to stop working which forced Amelia and Chuck to leap off. Meanwhile, the plane crashed into a nearby cliff though Sonny and Miles were unharmed.

"Second time we've had a near-death experience," Miles remarked as he got out of the biplane. "Something must be keeping us alive."

"Or it could just be dumb luck," Sonny suggested as they regrouped with Chuck and Amelia.

As the four explored the area, they came across dozens of Lyric's robots which were defeated pretty easily and allowed them to advance further. After taking a road that contained laser-beams pointing downward, Sonny and his friends came across Q-N-C who was miraculously intact after the incident at the Ocean Purification Plant.

" _I'd love to go into detail about my daring escape, but we have more important matters to attend to,_ " Q-N-C stated after a pause. " _I need you guys to short-circuit that computer so we may open up a shortcut to Lyric._ "

"No problem," Sonny said and used his Ener-Beam to pull a handle on a machine which plugged something into the large computer before them while Amelia aided him.

However, an abrupt sound went off followed by Lyric's robots suddenly appearing.

" _Oh, it seems the alarm went off,_ " Q-N-C noticed.

Reluctantly, Sonny and the others fought off the incoming robots while Q-N-C moved to a nearby computer and started typing something into it.

" _Okay, I've hacked into Terminal B,_ " Q-N-C said after Lyric's robots were defeated. " _Now Terminal C needs to be unlocked and we're good to go._ "

While Miles and Chuck pulled handles on a similar machine, a tube moved overhead and positioned itself right above Sonny. He jumped into it, and was projected forward onto the next level where Q-N-C and the others met up with him. Then Q-N-C opened a bridge for them which led to another road. This in turn brought Sonny and his friends across several areas riddled with lasers and glass-tiled floors which Q-N-C helped them navigate along with more roads which took them past some mechanical worms that looked similar to the one they defeated at Creeper Gorge.

" _Those things are Driller Worms, in case you're wondering,_ " Q-N-C explained. " _Best if we avoided them._ "

###

On a platform several feet away, Lyric was pacing around a strange device that the Chaos Crystals were plugged into. Beyond him lay several Sentinels shaped like the one MAIA took control over a thousand years ago.

"Now that those meddling fools are out of the picture, I can enact my plan without interruptions," Lyric said excitedly and turned to the Sentinels. "Go forth, my Sentinels! Destroy everything that lives and breaths!"

As he pressed a button which lowered the Chaos Crystals down and activated the Sentinels, Sonny and his friends came up behind Lyric.

"Not if we can help it," Sonny declared, getting Lyric's attention.

"What?" Lyric exclaimed. "I thought my robots had finished you off for good!"

"Apparently not," Sonny replied, folding his arms.

In response, Lyric pressed his technopathy device which summoned several robots to the platform while he in turn hovered over them. Sonny and the others instantly lassoed them with their Ener-Beams and threw them at Lyric which caused him to crash onto the platform briefly.

"Now's our chance to deactivate the Crystals while he's down!" Sonny looked around and noticed a glass tube several feet away across several platforms. "Miles, can you still use your propeller apparatus?"

"I'm not sure," Miles said nervously. "But I'll try it."

Leaping into the air, Miles activated his propeller apparatus and headed for the glass tube Sonny pointed to. Unfortunately, the apparatus broke midway causing him to fall. But then just when he thought it was all over, a comforting yellow light encompassed him. A few seconds later, Miles flew up as two fox tails spun rapidly behind his back and his human ears were replaced by fox-shaped ones. After approaching the tube, he smashed it with his wrist laser causing the Tidal and Heart Crystals to be released.

Meanwhile, Lyric had recovered and resumed his attack on the others. But Sonny and Amelia managed to grab his tail apparatus with their Ener-Beams and smash him down on the ground. This allowed Chuck to head over to some platforms containing red walls that were facing downward. Though Chuck tried his best to climb them, he slipped and nearly fell when a red light overtook him. Having sprouted spikes on his knuckles and a zigzag tail, Chuck managed to climb over to the second glass tube which he punched to release the Shock and Twilight Crystals.

As Lyric was knocked out a third time, Amelia ran towards some pink balancing beams which she easily ran across and attempted to smash the third glass tube with the Piko Hammer. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough causing her to get angry and sprout pink hedgehog ears and a tail. When she tried again, the glass tube smashed completely allowing the Verdant and Sun Crystals to come out. Then while that was going on, Sonny managed to dash past Lyric and spin onto some glowing orbs which took him to the fourth glass tube. Having sprouted blue hedgehog ears and a tail, he kicked the glass tube open and allowed the Flame and Sky Crystals to fly outward.

"It can't be," Lyric murmured. "My eyes are deceiving me."

"Think what you want, snake-breath," Sonny said in a voice that was slightly different from his own. "But my friends and I are gonna beat you no matter what!"

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 16: Teamwork

Chapter 16: Teamwork

"Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy," Lyric said as he turned to Sonny, Miles, Chuck, and Amelia respectfully. "I see you all have come back from beyond the grave to possess your counterparts in this version of Mobius as I did a thousand years ago."

"It was necessary," Tails explained, flying down to the platform where Lyric was.

"Otherwise, our counterparts would still be dead," Knuckles stated as he leaped onto the platform with his fists clenched.

"And no one could have opposed you," Amy remarked, using her Piko Hammer to swing onto the platform.

"Until we interfered," Sonic concluded, spinning into the air and landing on the platform perfectly. "Now we're here to put you back in your place!"

"I don't think so." Lyric shook his head as he produced the Radiant Crystal from his hand. "In trying to take the Chaos Crystals from me, it seems you've missed one."

As Lyric held the Radiant Crystal up in the air, the other Crystals Sonic and the others freed floated back to him.

"Shoot!" Sonic frowned. "We should've known you'd have one last trick up your sleeve."

"Indeed," Lyric nodded and pressed his technopathy device which caused Stilla and Shawn to suddenly emerge from the floor.

However, they were slightly different from before. While Stilla had badger ears and a tail, Shawn sported black hedgehog ears and a tail instead. They also both wore the same mind-control device Shawn had on earlier.

"Sticks!" Amy realized, dropping the Piko Hammer as she clutched the sides of her face.

"Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed and glared at Lyric. "What have you done to them?"

"They were trespassing onto my property," Lyric stated. "So I took them out myself and now they serve me."

"Let them go!" Tails demanded. "They had nothing to do with this."

"On the contrary, Tails," Lyric claimed. "Their human counterparts are the ones to blame here. Shadow's host, for instance, was supposed to shut down the Abandoned Research Facility and take the Sun Crystal under my control until your hosts interfered. Then Sticks' host…just became a nuisance."

Hearing that caused Tails to suddenly retreat into his host's mind which appeared in the form of a workshop where Miles was standing.

"How did you get here?" Miles asked, staring at Tails who appeared to him as a yellow fox with two tails that stood on his feet. "And what are you?"

Tails scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm Miles Prower, but most of my friends call me Tails. I take it from your expression that there aren't any talking foxes in this version of Mobius."

"Well, no," Miles shook his head and looked confused. "But somehow…this situation seems familiar to me, but I can't explain why."

"The short answer is that I'm a spirit from another Mobius that exists alongside this one," Tails described. "There was a terrible catastrophe, resulting in me and my friends being killed. Then when the Ancients opened up a portal to our world, we emerged here in spirit-form."

"Including Lyric?" Miles guessed.

"Yes," Tails nodded. "But unlike him, we didn't possess anyone because our counterparts hadn't been born yet."

"And I'm one of them?"

"Uh huh, though I get the feeling you've done this before even if you can't remember it."

"Even if that were the case, why did you possess my friends and I now?"

"Because Lyric's robots nearly killed you, so we had no choice but to take over in order to fulfill your guys' purpose."

"Which is?"

"To prevent the ones who destroyed our world from doing the same to yours."

"So Lyric is—

"He's one of them. The other two are Doctor Eggman and D-Fekt, the latter of whom you haven't met yet."

"But we will," Miles figured.

Tails hesitated. "Hopefully not, but keep an eye out for him anyway."

Miles made a mental note of this and then said, "So, since you're controlling my body right now, can you try not to hurt Stilla or whoever is possessing her for that matter?"

"Of course," Tails agreed. "We won't needlessly endanger our friends, or their hosts."

"Thank you."

"And maybe try to be a little less protective of the one you call Stilla. She's got someone looking after her already."

"I'll try to be," Miles admitted. "It's mostly for my friend Marina's sake, not mine."

"Then try to respect your friend's wishes and yet give Stilla the freedom she needs."

"Okay." Miles smiled and held his hand out. "Thanks, Tails."

"No problem," Tails said as he took Miles' hand.

Then Tails found himself back in the present, facing Lyric while his friends seemed a little out of it too.

" _Did you guys talk to your hosts too?_ " Tails whispered.

In response, Sonic Amy and Knuckles nodded.

"Are you ignoring me?" Lyric growled. "I'm the one with the hostages, and the Crystals."

"Now hold your tongue, snake-breath," Sonic sneered. "We were just discussing the next course of action."

Intrigued, Lyric landed on the ground. "Enlighten me."

"If you give us back our friends, we'll use whatever means necessary to break that suit of yours so your full powers can be attained," Sonic offered.

This caused Lyric's eyes to widen. "You'd do that?"

"Yep."

"No tricks?"

"Nope."

"Very well."

Lyric pressed his technopathy device which caused the mind-control devices to shut off making Sticks and Shadow pass out. Then as Sonic and the others stepped forward, Lyric noticed their Ener-Beam bracelets.

"Interesting," Lyric mused as he pressed the technopathy device again.

This time, the Ener-Beam bracelets shook as they suddenly pulled Sonic and his friends together releasing energy-beams that tied them up.

"You fell for the same trap twice," Lyric laughed. "How utterly moronic!"

Then just as Lyric began to float with the Chaos Crystals surrounding him, a sudden blast knocked him to the ground. This caused Sonic and the others to be released from the Ener-Beams' grasp as the shackles came off when they fell. On a nearby ledge stood Eggman's mech, which was barely standing, with Doctor Eggman at the controls.

"Take that, you backstabbing fiend!" Eggman cried wearily. "A real mad genius never…gives…up…"

The mech suddenly fell backwards taking Eggman along with it. Meanwhile, Sonic and his friends quickly recovered and they approached Lyric. Unfortunately, he managed to float upwards before the four could touch him.

"That overweight meat-bag may have thrown me off-guard," Lyric said as smoke started pouring from his suit. "But I will never be defeated by the likes of you!"

"Oh yeah?" Sonic turned to his friends who nodded in unison. "We'll see about that!"

As the four scattered, Tails leaped toward Knuckles who tossed him into the air followed by Sonic rolling toward Amy as she knocked him upwards with her hammer. While Tails hovered upside down midair, Sonic bounced off his feet and flew up above Lyric. Next, Sonic thrust his feet forward and kicked Lyric downward causing the glass helmet he wore to break open.

"My full powers," Lyric gasped as his tongue became forked and his mechanical tail was replaced by a real one. "They are returning, and yet…something's wrong."

As Sonic watched, Lyric's body started to deteriorate underneath the suit.

"No!" Lyric cried as his face started to dry up. "I was so close! My dream had almost come to fruition, until you…meddled…again…"

Lyric's body suddenly became limp as his skin turned to bare bones and then dust.

"Ew, gross!" Amy flinched.

"So by keeping Lyric's spirit repressed, the suit kept his host alive," Tails speculated. "As a result, Lyric became permanently bonded to the host's body so that one could not live without the other."

"I hope the same thing doesn't happen to our hosts," Knuckles stated nervously.

"We'll make sure of it," Sonic assured. "That's a promise to our hosts, and ourselves."

Then after the four did a combined fist-bump, Sonic removed the technopathy device from Lyric's chest and gave it to Knuckles. He in turn nodded and crushed the device in his hands. As a result, the Sentinels' red eyes dimmed and the Chaos Crystals flew off into the sky.

"Where are they going?" Amy wondered.

"Probably back where they belong," Tails figured. "And so should we."

###

Back at Bygone Island, Sonny and the others found Cliff being attended to by Doc Ginger. Apparently, he had been knocked out by Stilla who went off to look for them while Shawn followed her in turn.

"I'm sorry, Cliff," Stilla apologized. "But Sticks told me to do it because she sensed you guys were heading into trouble."

"It's all right," Cliff said waving his hand dismissively. "Though who is this 'Sticks' that you're talking about?"

Stilla gave Cliff an irritable look. "I thought I told you about her. She's—

"One of Stilla's imaginary friends," Amelia interrupted as she covered Stilla's mouth with her hand. "Might if my friends and I talk to her for a moment?"

"Uh, sure," Cliff replied.

While Stilla struggled, Amelia dragged her away from Cliff while the others followed. Outside, they made Stilla promise not to mention the spirits that now inhabited their bodies which she reluctantly agreed to. Then as the villagers gathered near the main plaza for some fireworks that were about to go off, Shawn appeared in the blink of an eye.

"Hey," Sonny greeted. "How's the search for Eggman going?"

"He's nowhere to be found," Shawn reported bitterly. "Meaning he either left these islands or is hiding well enough to where I can't find him."

"So what are you gonna do?" Chuck asked.

"I might continue searching for a little longer, and then head back to the mainland," Shawn answered. "Though Rouge was just telling me how the Commander is eager for my report upon my return."

"Well, good luck," Sonny grinned. "And keep tabs on Shadow. I heard he's not particularly fond of Sonic."

"Will do," Shawn nodded and walked away just as the fireworks began.

To be continued…


	17. Chapter 17: Fissure

**The next few chapters will be covering** ** _Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice_** **, which isn't that bad compared to** ** _Rise of Lyric_** **or** ** _Shattered Crystal_** **but not great either, followed by my version of** ** _Sonic Mania_** **right after that. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 17: Fissure

On a rocky snow-covered hill, Sonny and Amelia were trudging upward wearing fur-lined winter jackets that were blue and pink respectfully. Once they got to the top, Amelia looked down at the ground and made a big 'X' in the snow with the Piko Hammer. Sonny in turn placed a metal pole in the center.

"All right, that should do it," Sonny remarked and pressed a button on the communicator he was wearing. "The last monitor pole is in place. Ready to go online, Miles?"

" _Just about,_ " Miles replied. " _But man, this crazy weather…I've never seen anything like it. If this keeps up, the entire world could be doomed!_ "

"Then let's get this over with as quickly as possible," Sonny said and turned to Amelia. "Care to do the honors?"

"Sure," Amelia nodded and raised the Piko Hammer above her head.

With a great deal of strength, Amelia slammed the hammer down on the metal pole causing it to sink into the ground further. A few seconds later, light blue gas suddenly erupted from below the pole causing Sonny and Amelia to be pushed back as the ground suddenly became frozen. Above, random chunks of ice started falling causing Sonny to leap upward but as he did a fiery aura enveloped him. This made him pass through the ice with ease as it melted into liquid water. In response, Amelia leaped up and swung her hammer into the liquid which became solid again as Amelia's body was encapsulated by an ice-blue aura. Surprised, the two landed and looked at the fissure where the gas was erupting from.

"Are you thinking the same thing I am?" Sonny asked as his hand became engulfed by fire which didn't burn him.

"Uh-huh," Amelia responded, as her Piko Hammer frosted over.

In turn, Sonny ran in circles around the fissure causing the gas to go down due to the hot air emanating from Sonny's hand. Then Amelia slammed the icy Piko Hammer downward causing the ground to freeze over.

"That was incredible!" Amelia remarked, looking at her hands. "I wonder where these powers came from."

"I'm not sure," Sonny guessed.

" _Hey, guys!_ " Miles exclaimed on Sonny's communicator. " _You won't believe what just happened! The weather in your area's starting to clear up._ "

"Huh," Sonny shrugged. "Well, we've got a story to tell you."

" _Okay, then let's meet up,_ " Miles suggested. " _But I've gotta run a few tests first._ "

"Sounds good."

###

While Amelia and Sonny explored the rest of Kodiak Frontier, they came across a fissure that looked similar to the one they found earlier only it produced blue and orange energy instead.

"Maybe these fissures have something to do with the weird weather," Amelia guessed.

Sonny shrugged. "We won't know unless we seal them."

Immediately, Amelia swung her Piko Hammer around which sent an icy blast at the fissure causing it to cease spewing energy.

Amelia scuffed. "Too easy!"

Just then, another identical fissure opened alongside Sonny and Amelia. As Sonny was about to leap toward it, he and Amelia heard a sudden robotic noise and looked. At the top of a snowdrift stood a small robot that had an orange-colored body with three bolts sticking out of its head and blue bolt-like eyes.

"Aw," Amelia gushed. "He's too cute to be one of Eggman's robots."

"Still, can't take our chances," Sonny replied and attempted to head for the fissure once more when the small robot suddenly ran towards him.

It leaped into the air toward Sonny who moved to the side. While the robot crashed into the snow, Sonny activated the fiery aura and ran in circles around the second fissure which immediately closed up. In response the robot got up, shook its fist, and ran away.

"Hey, get back here!" Sonny demanded and followed the robot.

"Sonny, wait up!" Amelia cried following Sonny. "Maybe the robot's not working for Doctor Eggman and is actually innocent."

Sonny was about to make a remark when the small robot suddenly stopped in front of a totem pole that was broken into large pieces of wood. It floated up toward the head and emanated a blue aura which suddenly made the broken parts reform into a colossal giant with massive arms.

"You were saying?" Sonny said after a pause.

Amelia groaned. "Just because the robot merged with a totem pole doesn't mean it's—

As she spoke, one of the totem pole's hands came down and almost crushed Amelia.

"Never mind," Amelia corrected as she grabbed Sonny's hand. "We've got to take down this thing and fast!"

The totem pole retracted its hand and smashed it with the other one causing flames to ignite from both. Immediately, Amelia tried to leap up and freeze both hands but ended up emitting fire instead. Surprised, Sonny watched as the totem pole mashed one hand down which got stuck allowing him to spin-dash into it and emit ice instead of fire.

"I think our powers switched when we touched hands," Sonny figured while the robot tried to detach its frozen hand but ended up taking off the whole arm instead.

"For once, you're probably right," Amelia nodded. "But let's test that out!"

Up above, the robot produced large ice chunks which rained down from the sky. Fortunately, Amelia was able to melt them using her hammer while Sonny ran up the detached arm and spin-dashed into the small robot causing it to become disoriented which made the totem pole break into smaller parts. Angered, the small robot ran away once more causing Sonny and Amelia to chase it. Unfortunately, they lost track and ended up running into Miles who was checking his communicator in a yellow fur-lined jacket when a fissure suddenly erupted right in front of him. Amelia quickly slapped Sonny's hand and slammed the Piko Hammer down which sent the same icy blast which closed the previous fissure at this one. Meanwhile, Sonny rushed forward and pulled Miles away as the fissure was sealed like the others.

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 18: Race

Chapter 18: Race

"Thanks, guys," Miles said after a brief sigh. "But how did you freeze that fissure, Amelia?"

"With these crazy powers we got after another fissure opened up at the previous site," Sonny explained. "We're now able to manipulate fire and ice as well as switch by touching each other's hands."

"Then we ran into this little robot which tried to stop Sonny from closing a fissure before running away," Amelia continued. "So Sonny and I followed it only to get attacked by a giant totem pole the robot was controlling which we beat together with our new abilities."

"And what happened to the robot?" Miles asked.

"It ran off somewhere," Sonny replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Any idea where these powers could've originated?"

"Well, it could be exposure to the gas coming from these fissures," Miles guessed. "Though my scanner was picking up traces of a new element before this fissure was sealed."

In turn, Miles pointed to the one Amelia just froze over.

"Do you think there's some kind of connection between them?" Amelia wondered.

"Maybe," replied Miles. "But I do know that whenever a fissure closes, the weather starts improving significantly."

"Then maybe we need to start looking for more fissures to close," Sonny suggested.

"Looks like that'll happen sooner than you think," Miles responded as he looked concerned while examining his communicator. "I'm picking up strange readings all over Seaside Island, including the new element."

"So let's check it out," Sonny said impatiently.

Miles nodded. "Right, it could be another fissure. But we've got to hurry! I just remembered sending Stilla to set up monitors there."

Amelia gasped. "She might be in trouble!"

As Amelia was about to take off, Miles held her back. "My plane's over that ridge."

Looking at where Miles pointed, Amelia took off while Sonny and Miles followed. On the way, they saw the little robot from earlier and decided to give chase. They pursued it to the edge of an icy cliff, where a clawed hand came out of nowhere and snatched the robot up. The three looked upward and saw Doctor Eggman in his Egg-Mobile.

"I've been looking all over for you, and what do I find?" Eggman said as he scowled at the robot. "A bunch of closed fissures with no one guarding them! That was your one job, D-Fekt, and you're blowing it! Now get back to work!"

With that, Eggman tossed the robot aside with the metal claw.

"Um, did we show up at a bad time?" Sonny joked half-heartedly.

"This has nothing to do with you!" Eggman snapped. "But you're coming with me!"

Before Sonny could react, the metal claw grabbed him as Eggman flew them above the clouds and into the clear sky.

"You know, Eggman, kidnapping me is the first original thing you've done in, like, forever," Sonny mocked.

"Really?" Eggman's eyebrows raised as he turned to look down at Sonny. "Then you'll like what I have in store."

"Which is?"

"A race, against my EggBot Racers," Eggman answered. "Unlike regular Badniks, these robots are specifically designed to outrace you thanks to a new element I discovered."

"Oh?" Sonny's ears perked up. "What's it called?"

"I'm not telling," Eggman frowned. "It would ruin the surprise."

"Of your demise or my victory?"

"Neither! I'll be the first scientist to prove that you're not the fastest thing alive, if it's the last thing I do!"

Then Eggman's Egg-Mobile dipped below the clouds revealing a large termite-shaped robot tunneling through a barren desert. He flew Sonny into the robot's interior, which was revealed to be a gigantic race circuit where two robots that looked similar to the E-Series stood.

"Here's where your free ride ends," Eggman said as he dropped Sonny onto the starting line. "Have fun racing the Bots, Sonny!"

"Whatever, egg-face," Sonny said as he transformed into Sonic. "Let's do this!"

###

After Sonic had beaten the EggBot Racers by several minutes, he escaped from the race circuit robot and was picked up by Miles in a yellow propeller-powered airplane that he built himself after Cliff sent the Ancients' biplane to the Spagonia's History Museum last year. Flying above the clouds which covered most of the islands, Miles dipped down toward Seaside Island and dropped Sonny off there. With Miles' help, they were able to traverse the tropical beaches that dominated the area and close a nearby fissure using the new powers which Miles now had thanks to being near the one Sonny saved him from. Amelia met up with them later, and together the three found Stilla standing near the small robot which Eggman called D-Fekt.

"Stilla!" Sonny cried. "Look out!"

"That thing is dangerous!" Amelia said pointing to D-Fekt.

"What are you talking about?" Stilla said, picking D-Fekt up and cuddling it despite its clear discomfort. "This little guy wouldn't hurt anyone, and because he's so cute I'm calling him Ador-O-Bot 2000."

Just then, D-Fekt broke out of Stilla's grasp and took off.

"It's getting away!" Miles exclaimed and ran in the D-Fekt's direction with Sonny and Amelia following him.

Stilla grumbled and brought up the rear. "If any of you lay a finger on my Ador-O-Bot 2000, I'll — wait, seriously, Sticks? That robot's dangerous? No way!"

Eventually, the four found themselves in a thick jungle where Chuck happened to be.

"Hey, guys," Chuck waved. "What's going on?"

"We're looking for a robot," Amelia explained. "We think it might be connected to these fissures that have been popping up and causing the crazy weather."

Chuck scratched his head. "Well, I saw a tiny one not too long ago."

"That's the one!" Sonny acknowledged.

"But I didn't feel like beating it up, so I let the pint-sized bot pass." When everyone except Stilla groaned, Chuck raised his hands in a confused gesture. "What? I'm not the type to beat up defenseless-looking robots."

"Trust us, Chuck, this robot's more than you can handle," Sonny stated.

"Oh, really?" Chuck excitedly bumped his fists together. "Challenge accepted!"

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19: Element

Chapter 19: Element

After closing another fissure, which allowed Chuck and Stilla to get the fire and ice powers as well, the group found themselves traversing the Paleo Tarpits, a primeval forest filled with dinosaur bones and pits full of oozing tar. Here, there were several fissures including at an active tar-pit. As Miles and Sonny approached it, D-Fekt jumped right in front of them and took a defensive stance. Then in a split second D-Fekt rushed at Miles, who quickly moved out of the way.

"So I wasn't hearing things when Eggman said he told this robot to guard the fissures," Miles said to himself. "But what I'm not getting is why they have to stay open."

"Didn't you say they're causing the weird weather?" Sonny asked.

Miles shook his head. "No, I just said the weather _seems_ to improve when a fissure closes but that doesn't mean they're connected."

"Well, whatever the reason is, this little guy doesn't know when to quit," Sonny remarked, pointing at D-Fekt who was now on its feet and glaring at him.

The two stared at each other for a long time, before Sonny dashed up to the fissure and circled it which produced a fiery wind from his momentum causing rocks to fall onto the fissure's opening. In the process, D-Fekt fell into the tar-pit and sank in.

"We probably shouldn't tell Stilla about this," Miles suggested.

"Agreed," Sonny concurred.

As the two prepared to walk away, something emerged from the tar-pit behind them. Looking back, Sonny and Miles beheld a giant floating column of living tar dinosaur bones and a stone face with D-Fekt floating on top of it.

"Oh, right, I forgot it does that," Sonny remembered while Miles's knees were shaking. "Come on, buddy, we've handled tougher situations than this!"

Transforming into Sonic and Tails respectfully, they avoided the incoming tar projectiles coming from the creature's T-Rex skull hands. While Sonic spin-dashed out of the tar's way, Tails flew up to the head and used his wristwatch laser to hit D-Fekt. This caused it to get disoriented as the whole creature fell apart, allowing Tails to fire a cannon at the creature's face which exploded in tar. But just as the two were about to celebrate, Doctor Eggman showed up and kidnapped Sonic only to drag him back to the race circuit where he raced against two more robots. Just like before, Sonic beat them easily and was reluctantly taken back to the Paleo Tarpits where he was dropped off unexpectedly but caught by his friends.

"Thanks for that," Sonic said as he changed back into Sonny. "Though it would've been a cinch for me to land myself."

While Amelia gave Sonny a sideways glance, Miles' communicator started going off.

"Another island's got fissures popping up, which can only mean one thing," Miles stated with a worried look on his face. "Every time we close the fissures on one island, they end up transferring to another."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"It's the only explanation for why they keep showing up on several different islands," Miles explained. "So we need to find a way to fix them without causing trouble elsewhere."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know," Miles shook his head. "Give me and Tails some time to think, and we'll come up with something."

"All right, but in the meantime we should get over to that other island and fast!" Sonny urged and took off for Miles' plane.

###

At Cutthroat Swamp, which was near Seaside Island, Sonny and the others reached a fissure that was much larger than the others. Using their fire and ice powers, they stopped the energy from pouring out of it.

"Wait a second, guys," Miles said as he put on his orange-tinted goggles. "Before we close up this fissure permanently, I want to get a good look at its geographic makeup."

While Chuck scratched his head, Miles looked at the gaping hole inside the fissure and noticed traces of a green substance along the edges.

"This is definitely that new element I was detecting earlier," Miles remarked as he removed the goggles. "Sonny, when Eggman captured you both times did he say what was powering his new EggBot Racers?"

"Uh, not really," Sonny shook his head. "Just said it was a new element."

Just then, Miles' communicator started beeping. "Whoa! There's something else around here that has the new element on it, and it's moving away from here!"

Following in the direction of the signal, Miles ran further into the swamp while his friends followed behind. Along the way, they closed two more fissures and Doctor Eggman kidnapped Sonny again for a final race against his last two EggBot Racers.

"All right, Eggman," Sonny said as he mockingly dusted himself off after relinquishing Sonic's possession over him. "Now that I've left your bots in the dust, mind telling me what element you used to power them."

In response, Eggman grumbled. "I shouldn't have to tell you anything since it's clear that you cheated by having Sonic the Hedgehog possess you for all three races!"

Hearing that, Sonny flinched. "How did you know?"

"Ever since Lyric's defeat, I've been having a little voice inside my head telling me that he's me from another universe and wants nothing more than to crush his mortal enemy Sonic and his worthless companions," Eggman explained as he stroked his mustache. "He was even kind enough to tell me about this great substance called Ragnium that—

"Powered the EggBot Racers and somehow caused the fissures?" Sonny guessed.

Realizing what he just said, Eggman covered his mouth with both hands while Sonny smirked.

###

Later, after Eggman had dropped him back at Cutthroat Swamp, Sonny met up with Miles and Chuck and together the three of them found D-Fekt in a nearby clearing.

"That was the thing my sensor was detecting," Miles said as he scanned the robot with his goggles. "Since it's working with Eggman, the robot's obviously been exposed to a lot of Ragnium and that's what made the sensor go off."

"I still don't think it looks threatening," Chuck added.

D-Fekt looked in their direction, causing Miles Sonny and Chuck to flinch. Then it took off into the jungle while Sonny and Chuck followed. A few feet away there was a large spider-web with the remains of a dead spider lying below. Immediately, D-Fekt glowed and merged with the spider's forehead causing it to become whole and alive again.

"Ugh, this doesn't look good," Chuck replied nervously as the robot-possessed spider crawled up the web.

"You can say that again," Sonny grimaced.

To be continued…


	20. Chapter 20: Reprogram

Chapter 20: Reprogram

After defeating the giant spider, Sonny and Chuck gloated while D-Fekt ran away. The two noticed and headed for Gothic Gardens, which consisted of an old castle covered in thorns on the next island over. There, they regrouped with Amelia Miles and Stilla before corning D-Fekt.

"All right, now hold it still while I scan its body," Miles encouraged Stilla who was holding D-Fekt by the back of his neck after grabbing him.

"Isn't this kind of a violation of his basic rights?" Stilla asked out loud.

Sonny scuffed. "He's a robot, Stilla, not a person."

Everyone was silent as Miles typed a few things on his communicator/scanner and then his eyes widened. "So I was right! The robot _has_ been exposed to Ragnium due to working alongside Doctor Eggman."

"Okay, but what does that tell us about Eggman's ultimate scheme?" Sonny asked.

"Nothing so far," Miles replied. "But I bet if we put a tracking device on the robot, it'll lead us straight to Eggman's source of Ragnium!"

"Um, he's gone, Miles," Amelia stated and glanced over at Stilla. "And I think I know who let him go."

"Come on, Amelia, don't be like that," Stilla said dismissively. "I would never do something like that…unless the thing was cute and being needlessly violated."

While Miles groaned, Sonny decided to explore the castle in search of D-Fekt while the others followed. Along the way, they closed a couple more fissures before finding D-Fekt sitting near a large gargoyle statue which was big enough for all five of them to hide behind.

" _Okay, here's the plan,_ " Miles whispered as he held up a metallic glowing blue bracelet. " _I made a makeshift tracking device out of my laser wristwatch, which should work. All we have to do is put it around the robot's neck, and we're good to go._ "

" _But who's going to do it?_ " Amelia asked.

" _Stilla,_ " Miles said, getting her attention. " _Since the robot didn't seem to mind your presence last time, you'll have the honor of putting the tracking device on him._ "

" _I don't know,_ " Stilla responded unenthusiastically. " _Sticks recalls doing this before, and…something bad happens at the place where the Ragnium is._ "

" _Yeah, Tails remembers something similar but given the current circumstances we don't have a lot of options._ " Miles then thrust the blue bracelet into Stilla's hand who looked down at it and then emerged from behind the gargoyle.

Immediately, D-Fekt noticed her and stood up.

"Hey, Ador-O-Bot 2000," Stilla smiled sheepishly, hiding the bracelet behind her back. "I just thought I'd say hi, since we haven't seen each other in a while."

The robot made no move as Stilla stepped closer and revealed the bracelet.

"Also, I wanted to give you this." Still leaned forward and put the bracelet around D-Fekt's neck. "It's a…friendship bracelet of sorts, so be sure not to lose it. Bye-bye now!"

While Stilla ran back behind the gargoyle, D-Fekt watched her with a confused look before trotting away.

"Great job, Stilla," Miles admired, watching a blinking light on his communicator. "The tracking bracelet's working perfectly! Now all we have to do is follow him to the source of Ragnium and put an end to Eggman's scheme for good, whatever it may be."

###

Sometime later, Sonny and his friends found themselves on the barren island of Ragna Rock. There, they found several machines digging up tons of dirt and carts full of green-colored rocks were being pushed out of a mine on rail tracks.

"Yep, this is definitely the source of Eggman's Ragnium supply," Miles confirmed, looking down at his communicator. "The stuff's everywhere!"

"So what's causing the fissures, then?" Sonny asked.

"The byproducts from all these mine operations," Amelia answered. "Based on the sample of Ragnium that Miles analyzed, the element itself not only increases the speed and agility of robots, which is why Eggman's mining the Ragnium in the first place, but it also produces elemental energies such as fire and ice."

"And that's where we got these awesome powers from," Chuck realized flexing his fingers which turned fiery and icy at the same time.

"Exactly," Amelia nodded. "So the leftover energy from the Ragnium is creating the fissures and being pumped to the other islands as a result of being disused."

Just then, the ground started to shake.

"Um, is this island known for having earthquakes or have the mole people finally decided to take over the surface world?" Stilla said dubiously.

"No, that's not it," Miles clarified as he watched his communicator. "Because we've been closing the fissures, all that energy is getting backed up to its source which is here."

As Miles spoke there was an explosion of green dust at the mine, which the five were watching, followed by Eggman Orbot Cubot and D-Fekt emerging from it.

"What on Mobius was that?" Eggman wondered out loud before spotting D-Fekt. "You! What did I say about keeping the fissures open?"

Angered, Eggman kicked D-Fekt to the ground which made Stilla grit her teeth.

"No one hurts my Ador-O-Bot 2000 and gets away with it!" Stilla growled as she marched toward the mine's entrance while the others tried to stop her.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Buffoon Brigade!" Eggman chuckled. "Robots, exterminate these pests at once! I've got a schedule to meet."

While Orbot and Cubot saluted, D-Fekt did the same before flexing its hands. The same blue aura surrounded it causing all the metal carts railing and rocks to encircle it.

"Stop, D-Fekt!" Eggman ordered. "You'll destroy the whole mine at this rate!"

Not listening, D-Fekt continued to draw various objects toward it while a steel girder came down and pinned Eggman on a nearby wall.

"Well, this is embarrassing," Eggman remarked, trying to free himself. "It pains me to say this, but…help!"

"Don't worry, Eggman," Sonny said as he transformed into Sonic. "We've got this."

While his friends transformed into their counterparts, Stilla resisted Sticks. But in the end, Sticks won as badger ears and a tail sprouted from Stilla's body.

"I take it Stilla doesn't want you to destroy D-Fekt," Sonic guessed.

"Yeah, and I don't want to either," Sticks admitted. "But we've gotta if we want to prevent what happened to us from occurring here."

"Maybe reprogramming him like we did last time will work just fine," Sonic suggested.

"Will that prevent Ador-O-Bot 2000 from being destroyed?" Stilla asked in spirit form, hovering next to Sticks.

"Yes," Sticks nodded. "But you have to promise me you'll keep a close eye on the little guy, okay? Cuz last time I didn't and Lyric gained control of him."

"But Lyric's dead now, so all we have to worry about is Eggman," Sonic reminded Sticks. "And we know how to handle him."

"Right," Sticks agreed. "But first, let's stop Ador-O-Bot 2000 from destroying this island!"

Sonic smirked as he and Sticks approached D-Fekt who transformed into a metallic dragon with two-heads that spewed ice and fire from their mouths. While Sticks used her Boomerang to hit the flaming ice projectiles, Sonic spin-dashed into the dragon's tail causing it to flail. Then the creature used one head to try to smash Sticks, but she managed to get out of the way. In turn, the dragon created rocks that released icy and heated blasts when they hit the ground, forcing Sonic and Sticks to dodge. Leaping up into the air, the two created a makeshift wind using their fire and ice powers which caused the dragon's metallic pieces to be torn and D-Fekt to get knocked out in the process.

"And _that's_ how you take down an angry robot with creator issues," Sonic remarked.

Nearby, the steel girder that trapped Eggman had been blown out because of the wind causing him to now hang from it by the collar of his jacket.

"So much for helping me," Eggman scuffed as the collar tore and he found himself falling.

In a split second, Sonic dashed over and caught him.

Then Sonic felt his back pop as he set Eggman down on the ground and struggled to straighten it out. "Ugh, not again!"

"So much hard work was spent here," Eggman groaned as he looked at the caved-in mine. "But now that the mine's gone, I can no longer obtain Ragnium!"

"Oh, well, better luck next time," Sonic said while Sticks dug through the wreckage.

Eventually, she found D-Fekt intact but his eyes were blank.

Concerned, Sticks turned to Tails. "Is he—

"I think he's just turned off," Tails assumed as he took D-Fekt from Sticks' hands. "But let me make a few adjustments before turning him back on."

"That seems like a good idea," Amy agreed as Tails fiddled with the back of D-Fekt's head.

"If I had known D-Fekt was so powerful, I would've used him sooner," Eggman realized as he turned to face Sonic. "Mark my words, that robot will be mine someday!"

Then after summoning his Egg Mobile, Eggman flew away laughing maniacally.

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Sonic said before turning to the others. "Right, guys?"

The others nodded just as Tails turned D-Fekt back on.

"All right, I've made D-Fekt harmless and given him protective software so Eggman's grubby hands can't take control of it so easily," Tails explained as he gave D-Fekt to Sticks. "But he should be watched and treated well just in case."

"Okay," Sticks nodded as she changed back into Stilla. "I will. Welcome to the team, Ador-O-Bot 2000!"

Hearing that, D-Fekt squirmed excitedly in Stilla's arms causing her to laugh in delight. The others joined her as they left the island of Ragna Rock together.

To be continued…


	21. Chapter 21: Dimensional Rift

**So the next few chapters are going to be based on** ** _Sonic Mania_** **, which looks amazing and definitely worth checking out! Hope you guys enjoy my version and be sure to check out my other works if you're interested.**

Chapter 21: Dimensional Rift

A few days later, Stilla was playing fetch with Ador-O-Bot 2000, when suddenly she felt a strong headache and stopped to hold the sides of her head.

"Ow, what's going on, Sticks?" Stilla asked out loud.

There was no reply.

"Why are you giving me the silent treatment? I'm not mad."

A few moments passed, and Stilla's eyes widened.

"Maybe the aliens abducted Sticks from my brain and are planning to do some crazy experiments on her," Stilla contemplated nervously. "We've got to warn Amy!"

Picking up Ador-O-Bot 2000, Stilla ran down the beach until she came to Amelia's hut.

"Amelia! I need to speak to Amy right away!" Stilla cried.

"What for?" Amelia asked, noticing Stilla's concerned look. "Did something happen?"

"I think Sticks got abducted by aliens!" Stilla confessed. "One minute, I get a splitting headache and then the next I'm not hearing her voice in my head anymore."

"That's odd," Amelia remarked. "My head started hurting not too long ago."

Then Amelia closed her eyes and concentrated. Stilla watched with anticipation, but Amelia's furrowed brow made her tense up.

"I'm not feeling Amy's presence," Amelia said as she opened her eyes with a confused expression. "This is really weird."

"Now do you believe my alien theory?"

"Well, it might be possible since we know aliens exist. But the problem is which ones? The Black Arms were defeated by Shawn a long time ago, and the Wisps sounded harmless based on Sonny and Miles' descriptions. Maybe some of those 'Nega-Wisps' stuck around here after the black-hole sucked the Wisps' planets in."

"Nega-Wisps?"

"They're basically evil Wisps, though I don't know whether they're capable of stealing spirits or not. I'd need to ask Miles for more details."

"Now where did he and Sonny go again?"

"Angel Island, where Chuck originally came from. Miles picked up a strange energy reading and decided to investigate it with Sonny and Chuck tagging along."

"Do you think they experienced the same thing we did?"

"Let's hope not, or we'll be in big trouble if Eggman decides to attack us."

###

"How did we get here?" Sonny asked, looking at a vast lake with green hills palm trees and a familiar loop-the-loop rock formation.

"It seems that the pink-colored gemstone Eggman dug up on Angel Island created some kind of dimensional rift which transported you, me, Chuck, and five Badniks to this place," Miles stated as he was pressing several buttons on his communicator/scanner.

"Were those the brightly colored robots that just gloated in front of us before taking off?"

"I think so. They looked different, though."

"No kidding."

The shuffle of feet caught the boys' attention and they saw a small blue hedgehog and yellow two-tailed fox standing before them.

"Sonic?" Sonny exclaimed.

"Tails?" Miles blinked.

In response, the two creatures nodded.

"These can't be the same spirits who possess us," Miles responded doubtfully. "They're not transparent for starters, and look a lot more…round."

"So what are they?" Sonny attempted to touch Sonic, but he used his gloved hand to swat Sonny's finger away.

"My scanner says they're Mobians, but not in the same way we are."

Just then several insect-shaped robots came toward them prompting Sonic and Tails to go deal with them while Sonny and Miles brought up the rear.

###

" _No, I haven't heard Shadow yapping about how much better he is than Sonic since this morning,_ " Shawn said casually to Amelia through her computer-screen.

"Was there a preceding headache?" Amelia asked.

" _Yeah, how'd you guess?_ "

"The same thing happened to me and Stilla not too long ago, and our spirits haven't been responsive either."

" _What about Sonny, Miles, and Chuck? Have they been affected too?_ "

"We don't know because they left for Angel Island to investigate an unusual energy signal."

Shawn flinched. " _Funny you should mention that, because the Space Colony ARK picked up something similar and G. U. N. sent me to check it out._ "

"Can we come with you?"

" _Why?_ "

"Because our friends' spirits might get abducted by the same aliens that took ours if we don't stop them!" Stilla proclaimed, gripping Ador-O-Bot 2000 tightly.

" _I'm not sure I follow._ "

"Don't pay attention to her," Amelia assured. "She's just going crazy from not being able to hear Sticks."

" _I see._ " Shawn sighed. " _I'll see what I can do, and contact you later._ "

###

"You know, Sonny, something just occurred to me," Miles abruptly said as the two were still chasing Sonic and Tails through what appeared to be Green Hill.

"What's that?" Sonny asked.

"Ever since we got here, Tails has been completely silent in my head."

"Odd." Sonny then closed his eyes and opened them looking puzzled. "Huh, I can't hear Sonic either."

Before Miles could reply, a series of angry shouts caught his attention. Curious, he and Sonny made their way to the edge of the hill they were standing on and looked down to see Sonic and Tails standing before a tunnel below them. But what interested them more was seeing Doctor Eggman, who was looking a lot fatter than usual, sitting in a dismantled mechanical version of himself while berating the five multi-colored Badniks Sonny and Miles saw earlier. They were tossing a bright red gemstone between them, which intrigued Miles.

" _That's the mysterious gem that sent us here,_ " Miles realized. " _Wherever we are._ "

Just as Sonny was about to question Miles, Eggman suddenly used the mech's drill-shaped claw to grab the red gemstone from one of the Badniks. Then the area around the gemstone suddenly turned negative followed by a white static-textured light which sent Sonny, Miles, Sonic, and Tails floating into the air.

To be continued…


	22. Chapter 22: Different but Similar

**Author's Note: I know Tails doesn't talk in** ** _Sonic Mania_** **, or the early Sonic games for that matter, but since he talked in** ** _Sonic Generations_** **(which is connected to the events in my previous Sonic fanfic) I thought it would be okay here.**

Chapter 22: Different but Similar

A few seconds later, Sonny Miles Sonic and Tails found themselves inside a large power plant filled with tubes and various-colored liquids.

"Well, this is new," Miles reacted. "We're definitely not on our version of Mobius."

"Then where are we?" Sonny asked.

"We're in the Chemical Plant," Tails suddenly said in a child-like voice, much to Sonny and Miles' surprise.

"Did you just…talk?" Miles blinked.

"Yeah," Tails admitted sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if you guys were trustworthy, so I didn't say anything until now."

"What about him?" Sonny pointed at Sonic, who seemed offended.

"He does, but prefers not to," Tails explained. "Says it makes him look 'cooler.'"

Sonny scuffed. "Whatever, so what's this 'Chemical Plant'?"

"It's a factory where Doctor Robotnik makes all kinds of nasty substances for his evil schemes," Tails stated. "Sonic and I shut this thing down a while back, but it's clearly functional again."

"If this Robotnik's anything like the mad scientist we have back home, then we've got to find him and blow this joint." Sonny clenched his fist while Sonic nodded and took off in a blue blur.

"Sonic, wait up!" Tails cried and flew after Sonic by spinning his two tails.

"Good thing I packed my flying apparatus before leaving Bygone Island," Miles remarked as he pressed a button on his belt which unfolded the spinning propeller. "Let's catch up to them before we get lost in this maze of a place."

"Right," Sonny nodded and ran to catch up to Sonic.

###

After navigating through several metallic corridors ponds filled with purple liquid and glass tubes, the four found Doctor Robotnik, the fatter version of Doctor Eggman they saw earlier, who challenged Sonic and Tails to a game involving matching multi-colored beans of living jelly to make them disappear before their respective containers became too full. Meanwhile, Sonny and Miles searched for a way out of Chemical Plant.

"So what did you mean about us not being on 'our version' of Mobius?" Sonny wondered.

"Just that," Miles replied. "This is a parallel counterpart to Mobius that is different from ours."

"Yet similar," Sonny pointed. "There's a Doctor Eggman, or Robotnik as he's called, on this Mobius."

"Though our version's original name was Doctor Ivo Robotnik before calling himself Eggman."

"True, and there is a Green Hill that's similar to ours."

"Only it was occupied by insect-shaped robots which Eggman's never used."

"Maybe we're…of course!"

"What?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but I think—

An explosion drew the boys' attention causing them to head back. To their surprise, they saw Doctor Robotnik flailing about with charcoal on his face and coat before running away. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were unharmed as they regrouped with Sonny and Miles.

"Are you guys okay?" Miles asked.

"We're fine," Tails assured. "Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was a synch for me and Sonic, so Eggman's container blew up. Now we should hurry before he gets away."

Before Tails took off, Sonic tugged on his arm and pointed to a metal container.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Tails realized as Sonic spin-dashed onto the metal container's top. "We need to free the animals that Robotnik captured to power his robots here, just like the ones on Green Hill."

With the container broken, several small birds and squirrels came leaping out happily.

"That's odd, because where we come from Eggman used small children to power his," Miles remembered, thinking back to the day he met Sonny in middle school.

"Eggman?" Tails gave Miles a confused look. "Is that the name of the mad scientist from the Mobius you're from?"

Reluctantly, Miles nodded. "So you heard what I said before?"

"Yep, and I've already started to formulate a theory."

"Mind telling us later?" Sonny said impatiently. "We've got a runaway scientist to catch."

Sonic agreed by running off, followed by Sonny while Miles and Tails did their best to keep up.

###

On Angel Island, a black helicopter landed with the G. U. N. logo on it. Shawn was the first person to step out, carrying a small handgun while Amelia followed. Stilla lay curled on the floor clutching Ador-O-Bot tightly.

"The end is near…" Stilla muttered. "I can feel it…"

"Don't be so overdramatic, Stilla," Amelia replied. "We'll find Sonny and the others and figure out what's going on in no time."

"Maybe sooner than you think," Shawn responded, holding his gun in a defensive stance.

Amelia looked at the foliage and saw Doctor Eggman running away from five brightly colored robots that flew over him. Shawn attempted to fire his gun at them, but they disappeared in a flash of light.

"No way," Shawn's eyes widened. "Was that…Chaos Control?"

"It can't be," Doctor Eggman said, bending over as he breathed heavily. "I knew the Phantom Ruby was powerful, but—

A wooden boomerang suddenly hit Doctor Eggman's gut causing him to fall backward. Amelia and Shawn looked back to see Stilla standing on top of the helicopter as she caught the boomerang while still holding Ador-O-Bot 2000.

Next, Stilla leaped off the helicopter and land on Doctor Eggman's chest. "Spill it, Eggman! You're working with the aliens who abducted Sticks and Amy, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Eggman claimed. "All I wanted was to get revenge on you guys for ruining my Ragnium mining operation by digging up something on this island that was giving off a powerful energy reading."

"That's what Sonny Miles and Chuck went to investigate." Amelia summoned the Piko Hammer and jammed the stick end into Eggman's throat. "Where are they?"

"I'm…not sure," Eggman choked.

"You'd better start talking," Shawn threatened as he joined the girls and pointed the handgun at Eggman's head. "Or we'll have to make you talk."

Eggman gulped. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you everything I know! But I'm just as confused as you are, so don't expect any definite answers!"

To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23: Unexpected Meetings

Chapter 23: Unexpected Meetings

Through a tube, Sonny Miles Sonic and Tails were led out of Chemical Plant up to a manhole. Opening it, the four found themselves in a large city with towering skyscrapers and television screens everywhere.

"Wow, what a place," Sonny remarked.

"It sure is."

Surprised, Sonny looked up and saw Chuck looking a little less taller as he glided down from a nearby skyscraper. Next to him was a red echidna with spiked boxing gloves which looked at Sonic and Tails with a surprised expression.

"Knuckles!" Tails recognized. "We thought you were a goner after the Phantom Ruby sent us to Green Hill."

"Nah, I got sent to Green Hill too," the red echidna said in a slight Western accent (kind of like the way he sounds in the Sonic OVA movie). "Then I ran into this guy and we followed you all the way through Chemical Plant and got here before you did."

"For the umpteenth time, my name is Chuck!" Sighing, Chuck turned to Sonny and Miles. "So any idea what happened, or where we are?"

"Miles thinks we're on a parallel version of Mobius, which was caused by that gem Eggman was digging up," Sonny explained.

Chuck scratched his head. "How can a small gemstone do that? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Chaos Emerald, or the Master Emerald would've felt its presence."

"It's not, but has similar properties to one," Miles confirmed.

"Have you been in touch with…you-know-who?" Sonny asked, giving a sideways glance to Knuckles the Echidna.

Chuck followed Sonny's gaze and realized what he meant. "No, I haven't heard his voice since entering this world. But that's not the weirdest part."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sonny observed, staring at Chuck from head-to-toe. "But how were you able to glide?"

"I'm not sure," Chuck responded. "It just came naturally to me."

"I remember you were able to do that back in Middle School, when we first met," Miles chimed in. "But ever since we started living on Bygone Island—

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Robotnik's voice blaring over the television screens. Intrigued, Sonic dashed forward while Sonny followed. The others tagged along and were soon attacked by one of the multi-colored Badniks they encountered earlier. This one in particular was blue and white with a police siren on top of its head. Flying in a helicopter, it commanded one of the regular Badniks flying alongside to toss a rocket-launcher in its direction.

" _This is Heavy Gunner,_ " the blue Badnik said, holding the rocket-launcher in one hand. " _Leave Studiopolis now or you will be shot!_ "

"Not a chance, Copper!" Knuckles responded and glided toward the helicopter.

Immediately, Heavy Gunner fired the rocket-launcher and sent three missiles flying toward Knuckles. He dodged them with ease, but the red ones followed him prompting Chuck to intercede. Meanwhile, the one blue missile went straight for Sonic but Sonny spin-dashed into it. As a result, the missile was redirected and wound up hitting one of the flying Badniks instead.

"Keep that up!" Tails encouraged. "It'll stop the Badniks for sure!"

"And maybe one of them will hit the Heavy Gunner," Miles added as he and Tails flew upward to aid Chuck and Knuckles were both being chased by the red missiles.

###

Back on Angel Island, Shawn had gotten everything he needed to know from Eggman whom he handcuffed to a seat in the helicopter.

"So the object that Eggman's robots dug up, and the source of the strange energy that Space Colony ARK detected, is called the Phantom Ruby," Shawn explained to the Commander via a wireless communicator. "It's a supernatural gem that's similar to the Chaos Emeralds, but a lot more powerful. It has the ability to transport several objects through space, including dimensions, and can make robots stronger. Because of this, Eggman sent five upgraded Badniks called the Hard-Boiled Heavies to unearth the ruby from Angel Island. But Sonny Miles and Chuck showed up just as the ruby was being unearthed, which emitted a powerful energy warp that transported everyone except for Eggman to an unknown location. Then several seconds later, five multi-colored Badniks appeared, attacked Eggman, and teleported away using a gemstone that looked identical to the Phantom Ruby based on Eggman's description of it. I'm not sure. What? Right away, sir."

Shawn then hung up, which got Amelia's attention.

"What is it?" Amelia asked.

"Those strange Badniks we saw earlier are currently attacking South Island, but the Chaotix Detectives are too busy evacuating civilians to go deal with them," Shawn stated. "So the Commander has ordered me to assess the situation until a G. U. N. unit arrives."

"Then let's go!" Amelia summoned the Piko Hammer and was about to board the helicopter when Stilla tugged on her arm.

"What about our friends?" Stilla whimpered. "Shouldn't we be looking for them?"

"Yes, but my home's in danger," Amelia insisted. "We'll resume the search for Sonny and the others after we've dealt with this. I promise."

###

After defeating the Heavy Gunner Badnik, Sonic Sonny and the others found themselves in a large television studio.

"This must be where Robotnik is broadcasting from," Miles guessed.

Everyone split into two groups with Chuck and Knuckles climbing up the walls, Sonny and Sonic rolling along the cables, and Miles and Tails flying into the rafters. After doing some searching, they found Robotnik in front of a big television screen where a robotic chicken was forecasting the weather. In turn, Robotnik adjusted the radar dishes on the sides of his Egg Mobile which caused the same weather conditions to occur in the studio. The wind suddenly increased, causing Tails and Miles to fly up into the spikes above, the heat from the studio lamps increased which fried Knuckles and Chuck, and miniature storm clouds appeared zapping Sonic and Sonny as they ran. Fortunately, the three groups miraculously survived these attacks and rammed into Robotnik's Egg Mobile from all sides. This caused the Egg Mobile to explode forcing Eggman to retreat. In the meantime, a metal container was discovered containing more small animals which were rabbits and penguins this time.

To be continued…


	24. Chapter 24: Devastation and Abandonment

Chapter 24: Devastation and Abandonment

"Look, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, pointing to the television screen. "It's the Flying Battery!"

The other looked and saw a large ship fly over Studiopolis.

"What's that?" Sonny asked.

"It's one of Robotnik's flying battleships," Knuckles described. "I'm pretty sure Sonic destroyed that thing when Robotnik tried taking the Master Emerald from Angel Island."

"Looks like it was rebuilt," Chuck assumed.

"I think Eggman flew something similar when he attacked the Angel Island on our version of Mobius," Miles said. "But maybe I'm remembering it wrong."

"Well, in either case, we've got to stop that thing," Sonny stated and took off along with Sonic.

###

Onboard the Flying Battery, the three humans and animals split up. While Chuck and Knuckles went to the lower levels, Tails and Miles navigated the higher levels and Sonny and Sonic went through the main ship. Together, they searched high and low for Robotnik but found no sign of him until Sonic and Sonny fell into a trash compactor. An electric magnet made the trash come to life while the compactor's width shrunk, forcing the little hedgehog to ram into the magnet while his human counterpart kept the trash at bay. After Sonic destroyed the magnet, the compactor shut down. This allowed Sonny and Sonic to escape and continue their search for Robotnik. Eventually, they regrouped with Miles and Tails and the four of them were attacked by Robotnik in a spider-shaped mech that dangled upside-down. With their combined strength, the two groups rammed the spider mech into spikes along the walls causing it to rupture and Robotnik to fall out.

"Looks like he's falling toward that garden," Sonny observed. "We should go after him."

Sonic nodded in agreement and the two leaped downward while Miles and Tails went to find Knuckles and Chuck so they could follow.

On the ground, the six entered a ruined building where newspapers were being printed and put on conveyor belts. They looked around but could find no signs of Robotnik except for a robot that was cutting up cardboard boxes. After defeating it, they entered a Japanese-style garden with cherry blossoms and snow on the ground.

"This is unusual," Miles noted. "The cherry blossoms seem to indicate that it's currently spring, but the snow implies late winter so nothing should be blooming."

"Maybe Robotnik has something to do with it," Tails figured.

Pressing on, they came across several of Robotnik's robots and wood chippers that were cutting the cherry blossom trees down.

"Now we know where all that paper came from," Sonny remarked.

"It's awful," Knuckles frowned. "Destroying all these beautiful trees just to print some stinking newspapers. The thought of it makes me sick!"

"Hey, calm down," Chuck assured Knuckles. "We'll stop Robotnik from doing any more damage to this garden. Right, guys?"

Sonny and Miles nodded, while Tails and Sonic did the same.

###

Eventually, they came to a large arena where they encountered another one of the multi-colored Badniks this one being green wearing a matching cape and wielding a katana.

"You're one of Robotnik's bots!" Knuckles realized. "Did he send you to kill us?"

" _I am Heavy Shinobi of the Hard-Boiled Heavy clan,_ " the green Badnik spoke solemnly. " _And I do not know who this 'Robotnik' you're talking about is, but the one I served before was Doctor Eggman along with my brothers._ "

"Eggman?" Sonny exclaimed. "So you're from _our_ dimension!"

" _It would appear so, as none of us seem to recognize this world though it's called Mobius,_ " the Heavy Shinobi concurred. " _If you can help me find the one who resembles Eggman that stole the Phantom Ruby from us, we will try to use its power to send you home._ "

"And cause more damage there?" Chuck clenched his fists. "I don't think so!"

###

On South Island, Amelia Stilla and Shawn managed to find the strange Badniks and confront them. But during the ensuing battle, Eggman managed to get out of his cuffs and take the Phantom Ruby from the Badniks' hands. Next, he used the Ruby's power to transport them elsewhere. To Amelia's surprise she found herself in Metal City, which used to be called Station Square before Chaos flooded the area and where the EX World Grand Prix tournament was held, but now it looked rundown and deserted.

"What happened here?" Amelia asked out loud.

"Looks like someone hasn't paid attention to the news in the past seven years."

Surprised, looked behind seeing two young men and a woman walking toward her. One had green spiky hair and yellow goggles, the second had long purple hair and yellow shades, and the third had medium-length gray hair and blue goggles. They all carried long skateboards in their hands that matched their hair colors which had gold insignias on the back.

"Team Babylon!" Amelia realized. "What are you guys doing here?"

The purple-haired girl turned to the green-haired guy. "Should we tell her, Jet?"

"Why not?" the green-haired guy shrugged. "She's just Sonny's girlfriend."

"And he just so happens to be the one who beat you back at the tournament," the purple-haired girl stated.

This made Jet clench his fist. "Why must you always remind me, Wade?"

"Yeah, lay off," the gray-haired guy chimed in, making the purple-haired girl flinch in anger.

"Chill out, Sky," Jet stated, putting a hand on the gray-haired guy's massive shoulder. "We're not going to get anywhere with this pointless arguing."

"Plus, I still need answers," Amelia reminded.

Jet sighed. "The short answer is that after Metal City's mayor King Doc was found out to be Doctor Eggman, funding for the city was significantly cut and the EX World Grand Prix was discontinued because of us secretly being the Babylon Rogues, international treasure hunters and thieves. While our crimes were pardoned due to helping Sonny and the others defeat Eggman, the prize money was rendered null due to being phony. So as a result, Metal City was abandoned and we've been salvaging countless treasures from this place ever since."

Amelia let this sink in and then said, "I need your help. Sonny's missing, and Eggman's running loose with an item that could be devastating if he isn't stopped soon."

To be continued…


	25. Chapter 25: Past and Present

Chapter 25: Past and Present

After defeating the Heavy Shinobi, Sonny Sonic and the others found Robotnik standing in front of a computer-screen which depicted a planet-like object and a machine that resembled Sonic.

"Metal Sonic!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I thought I destroyed him!"

Grinning mischievously, Robotnik turned away from the computer-screen and took out the Phantom Ruby which emitted a bright light that encapsulated everyone. A few moments later, the three animals and humans found themselves standing in some ancient ruins covered in vines. Sonic looked surprised and whispered something to Tails.

"Stardust Speedway? In the past?" Tails gave Sonic a doubtful look. "Are you sure?"

In response, Sonic nodded.

"What did he say?" Sonny asked.

"Sonic says we're currently in a past version of Stardust Speedway, which is an area on Little Planet." When Sonny Miles and Chuck gave him confused looks, Tails cleared his throat. "A while back, Sonic went on vacation to a special lake where a miniature planet is said to appear every few years. That was Little Planet, but when Sonic arrived he discovered that Doctor Robotnik had taken it over completely by placing generators in Little Planet's past. So Sonic used special relics called Time Stones to destroy the generators in the past thus liberating Little Planet in the present."

"But didn't Little Planet vanish afterward?" Knuckles said. "That's what I heard."

"Yes, but maybe Robotnik used the Phantom Ruby to bring it back," Tails suggested. "Let's look round and see if my theory's correct."

While Tails and Miles flew overhead, Knuckles and Chuck glided along behind them. So Sonic and Sonny ran along the vine-covered pathways until they came across a metallic object. Recognizing it, Sonic spin-dashed into the object which exploded upon impact. In its place grew several small flowers followed by a gigantic piranha plant.

"Yay, we destroyed the generator!" Tails cheered. "Now let's get out of here!"

A few feet further, they encountered a giant mechanical lightning bug that produced destructive lasers from its lightbulb-shaped rear-end. Tails and Knuckles distracted it, while Sonic spin-dashed into the bug. Sonny and his friends helped too and soon the lightning bug was destroyed. Eventually, they found a sign-post that said, 'Present' and ran past it. A blinding light followed, and soon they were standing before a brightly lit city that had highways resembling brass instruments. Following the trail of spring-loaded launchers, Sonic and the others found the mechanical version of Sonic preparing to crush a small rabbit beneath its metallic foot. Sonic immediately ran into it but its image vanished causing a small machine to be destroyed and several small animals like the rabbit to be released.

"It was just a hologram," Tails realized.

"So where's the real one?" Knuckles asked out loud.

From beneath the floor appeared a fleshed out version of the hologram who hovered for a moment before landing on the ground. It folded its arms and tapped its foot. Motioning towards itself, the metal version of Sonic flew away prompting the real Sonic to chase after it.

###

After experiencing a blinding light, Shawn found himself in the Westopolis park which was still miraculously intact after the Black Arms invasion many years prior. To his left was a path with one young woman jogging on it with purple hair tied in a ponytail and cat-like eyes.

"Blake!" Shawn called, recognizing the young woman.

"Hmm?" The young-woman took out her earphones and looked at the tree where Shawn stood. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," Shawn responded. "Where's Silva?"

"G. U. N. sent him to Central City not too long ago," Blake responded. "Apparently, one of Eggman's Badniks is attacking it. Goes by the name Heavy Gunner."

"Do you know what it looks like?"

"No."

"Then we have to go there. I'll explain everything along the way."

###

While Amelia had been transported to Metal City and Shawn to Westopolis, Stilla and Ador-O-Bot 2000 found themselves lying on the deck of a boat where a young woman was sunbathing. She had dark-brown pigtails that were similar to Stilla's only she wore a green tank-top and black shorts. Naturally, she was surprised and lowered her sunglasses.

"Stilla?" the pigtailed girl exclaimed.

"Hey, Cousin Marina," Stilla responded looking embarrassed. "Just thought I'd drop in."

"Quit joking around!" Marina demanded. "How did you get here?"

"Well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"And what's that thing?" Marina pointed at Ador-O-Bot 2000 who was shaking its bolt-covered head. "Isn't it one of Eggman's robots?"

"It was, but Miles reprogrammed him for me."

"Really?"

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Of course I am!"

"Fine, then." Stilla rubbed her hands and turned to Ador-O-Bot 2000. "Lift, Ador-O-Bot 2000!"

On command, Ador-O-Bot stretched its hands out. A bright blue aura emanated from them, followed by the boat suddenly emerging from the ocean and hovering midair.

"What the—?" Marina looked over the side of the boat, gasping. "How's it doing this?"

"Something to do with magnets," Stilla replied. "Miles could explain it better than me."

Taking a deep breath, Marina said, "Okay, so what's going on?"

###

As two blue forms raced around a giant statue of Robotnik, Miles told Sonny some theories of his regarding their present situation while Sonny told Miles his.

"In a past version of Mobius?" Miles raised an eyebrow. "Where's your proof?"

"The fact that we don't have spirits possessing us right now," Sonny claimed. "That's what happened when Mephiles attempted to destroy both versions, though you don't remember it."

"Right, but I'll trust your word. Anything else?"

"Apart from Robotnik, we haven't seen any other humans."

"I've heard there are a lot of them on the mainland," Tails abruptly stated. "Though they've never come here, except for Robotnik."

"I wonder why," Chuck questioned.

"We mostly keep to ourselves," Knuckles said, yawning. "At least I do."

Miles gave Knuckles a stern look. "Well, in either case, I'm now convinced the Hard-Boiled Heavies we've been fighting are actually Eggman's which means that Robotnik must have created his own based on the way he berated them earlier and they were transported to our version of Mobius after we came here."

To be continued…


	26. Chapter 26: Separated

Chapter 26: Separated

After Stilla finished explaining what happened, Marina set a course for Southern Island which was where her parents lived as it was currently being attacked by a robot calling itself Heavy Shinobi. Meanwhile, Sonny and Sonic followed Robotnik back to Angel Island and entered Hydrocity, an ancient ruin that was completely submerged underwater. There, they maneuvered around several traps Robotnik set inside self-generated bubbles or on gondolas.

He then triggered mines which caused the ruins to suddenly move forcing Sonic Sonny and the others to swim upwards. Then they found a flying device of Robotnik's and used it to suck him up in a vortex of water with his own bombs causing them to explode on him. Seeing him swim away, the six searched through several underwater passages and water-slides. Then in one passageway, Robotnik attacked Sonic and Tails with a submarine and they were whisked away while Knuckles Sonny Miles and Chuck got separated. They swept out of Hydrocity altogether and washed up along a river.

"It's a good thing my flight apparatus is waterproof," Miles remarked as he checked the belt and propeller. "But they'll need to recharge for at least a few hours."

"Great! That won't help us rescue Sonic and Tails," Knuckles frowned, punching the sand in anger. "I should've grabbed them when I had the chance."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, buddy," Chuck said, putting a hand on the echidna's back. "I'm sure they'll make it out of there."

Several minutes passed, and neither Sonic or Tails appeared. Concerned, Knuckles told Miles to go look for the _Tornado_ and see if there was anything in there they could use for rescue purposes. So Miles took off leaving Sonny to deal with Knuckles and keep him from diving back into the river. Then just as Chuck was about to jump in instead, a bubble popped on the surface. From it emerged Tails who was carrying Sonic as he looked down at the river nervously.

"Took you long enough," Knuckles shrugged, hiding his anxiety with the same cool tone he had before. "My human counterpart was about to do something stupid."

"Oh, come on!" Chuck folded his arms. "You would've done the same if Sonny didn't hold you back."

"Shut up!" Knuckles argued.

"Maybe you guys really are our counterparts from another world," Tails interrupted after dropping Sonic on the beach. "Where's Miles?"

"He went to your biplane to look for something to rescue you guys with," Sonny answered.

"It's not really mine," Tails admitted. "It originally belonged to Sonic."

Hearing that, Sonic shook his head and pointed at Tails.

"Yes, I know you gave it to me but I'm just explaining were I got it from," Tails clarified.

From there, they regrouped with Miles and met up at the _Tornado_ , which was white and red with the word 'Sonic' along the side. While Tails got into the cockpit, Knuckles glided onto the rudder and Sonic leaped onto the top wing.

"I'm getting weird signals from someplace called the Mirage Saloon," Tails described. "That's probably where the Phantom Ruby is, meaning Eggman must be there as well."

"Let us come with you," Miles offered. "I know my flying apparatus isn't operable right now, but—

"Sorry, but I think your combined weight will put too much stress on the plane," Knuckles figured. "No offense, guys."

"Knuckles has a valid point," Tails realized. "We'll come back once we're done."

So reluctantly, Sonny Miles and Chuck stepped back as Tails realigned the _Tornado_ to where it faced towards the edge of Angel Island before taking off.

###

Across a vast desert, Tails flew the _Tornado_ with Sonic and Knuckles riding onboard.

"You know, if there really are humans on the mainland…maybe some of them are nice like the ones who've been helping us," Tails suggested but a sudden cry made him briefly look back.

Knuckles wasn't leaning against the plane's rudder anymore and then a maniacal laugh caused Tails to look ahead. It was another one of the brightly colored Badniks from earlier, which Miles figured were the Hard-Boiled Heavies Heavy Shinobi was referring to, only this one wore a bright-orange coat and a matching top-hat.

" _Pardon me, but have you seen a Phantom Ruby around here?_ " It asked in a female voice tipping its hat.

"Um, no," Tails answered nervously.

" _Oh, well goodbye then._ " The orange Badnik started to vanish prompting Sonic to leap after her.

Unfortunately, all he managed to destroy was the Badnik's hat which transformed into a rabbit.

Up ahead, several Badniks appeared resembling vultures and armadillos.

"I sure hope Mighty isn't one of these," Tails remarked as Sonic rammed into the mechanical armadillos releasing the animals inside them.

Below them, a train-track appeared followed by a steam-train which had a protruding nose and a familiar face riding it.

"It's Robotnik!" Tails realized. "Go get him, Sonic!"

In response, Sonic leaped down onto the train. He tried to reach Eggman but a flash of orange caught his attention. Above, the orange Badnik from earlier was hovering in front of Tails before taking off her hat. A long pink mechanical caterpillar emerged, followed by the Badnik disappearing once more. Concerned, Sonic used a gun loaded to the back of the train to launch himself back onto the _Tornado_ just as it was attacked by the pink caterpillar which had grown several times bigger than before.

###

After defeating the giant caterpillar, another biplane appeared with a giant polar bear riding on its nose. It wore a red knitted cap, a green scarf, and brown boxing gloves.

"Who are you?" Tails asked.

"The name's Bark, Bark the Polar Bear," the polar bear answered. "You must be Sonic the Hedgehog, and Miles 'Tails' Prower."

"Yeah, that's us," Tails reluctantly answered.

"Robotnik sent me to deliver a message," Bark said, and tapped his foot on the plane's nose.

A small missile shot out and hit the _Tornado_ directly. As a result, Sonic grabbed Tails and they leaped out of the plane as it crashed into a nearby sand-dune. Bark laughed triumphantly and flew away, just as Sonic and Tails landed safely on the ground.

To be continued…


	27. Chapter 27: Deception and Trust

Chapter 27: Deception and Trust

Finding themselves a few feet from the titular Mirage Saloon, Sonic and Tails entered it only to be confronted by several Badniks at once. Fortunately, they managed to fend themselves off and reach the basement where a large stage was. The curtains opened, showing a box with an image of the orange-dressed Badnik from before.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Mirage Saloon Magic Show!_ " said an announcer with a feminine voice. " _And here's your host, Heavy Magician!_ "

The image opened up to reveal the orange Badnik who once again tipped her hat.

" _So glad you could make it, Sonic and Tails,_ " the Heavy Magician nodded. " _How is your precious plane doing?_ "

Flinching, Tails shouted, "So _you're_ the one who ordered Bark to crash my plane and not Doctor Robotnik like he claimed!"

" _Precisely, my little fox friend,_ " replied Heavy Magician.

"Why?"

" _Because your buddy with the quills destroyed my favorite hat!_ "

With that said, the Heavy Magician vanished and in her place stood a purple weasel wearing a hat and shooting a gun at Sonic. Immediately, Sonic dodged the bullets and rammed into the weasel which then was replaced by the Heavy Magician who looked dizzy. But she quickly recovered and vanished into her own hat, causing a green duck to emerge that threw bombs at Tails. Before the bombs could hit him, Sonic kicked the bombs away from Tails back at the green duck causing an explosion which revealed Heavy Magician who retreated back into the box with her face on it.

"That duck and weasel were on the wanted posters upstairs next to Bark's image," Tails remembered. "I believe their names were Bean the Dynamite and Fang the Sniper, so either Heavy Magician is transporting them here or—

Tails' thought was interrupted by Bark the Polar Bear emerging from the box as he took a swing at Sonic with his gloved hands. Sonic easily maneuvered out of the way, and bopped Bark on the head causing him to be replaced by Heavy Magician.

"That's it!" Tails gasped. "You aren't transporting Fang, Bean, or Bark here but disguising yourself as them to fool us!"

" _Curses!_ " Heavy Magician muttered and flew back into the box.

"Oh, no you don't!" Knuckles cried, and came flying down from the top of the curtain.

With his fists, he crushed the box Heavy Magician was in which exploded into several wooden and metal pieces.

"Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed. "We thought you were still in the desert."

"Nah, I used a network of tunnels and caves to reach here," Knuckles explained. "Saw your plane crashed near the saloon and figured you'd be around someplace."

"Were you watching the battle just now?" Tails asked.

"I caught the second-half where you figured out the Heavy Magician was changing into those criminals before she tried to escape," Knuckles admitted. "And so I thought I'd get my revenge on her for knocking me off the _Tornado_."

"Well, let's mosey on out of here," Tails suggested. "We've got to find some way to get back to Sonny and the others."

Outside the Mirage Saloon, the three came across another large gun that was similar to the one on the train. This one, however, was aimed toward a series of large buildings beyond the desert.

"Wait, that's the Oil Ocean refinery!" Tails pointed. "Didn't we destroy that before, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded and proceeded to climb into the gun.

"You guys take care of the refinery," Knuckles said as he prepared to glide. "I'll head back to Angel Island and let Sonny and his friends know what's going on."

"Good idea," Tails encouraged as he followed Sonic's example. "Wish us luck!"

Knuckles nodded and glided off while Sonic and Tails went flying all the way across the desert towards the oil refinery in the distance.

###

"This sucks!" Chuck grumbled. "We're stranded on a version of Angel Island that's not mine on a world that's not ours with no way to follow Sonic and the others!"

"Quit complaining, Chuck!" Sonny snapped, standing before the Master Emerald which was inside a cave similar to the one from their world. "If I can use Chaos Control like I did that time with Shawn—

"That was with a Chaos Emerald, _not_ the Master Emerald," Chuck interrupted.

"So? The Master Emerald's basically a more powerful version of the Chaos Emerald," Miles argued. "Meaning it'll probably warp Sonny further, depending on whether this plan works or not. Now go ahead and say the chant, Chuck."

Sighing, Chuck held his hands out and said, "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The heart is the controller. The controller serves to unify the chaos. Master Emerald, please transport Sonny to where Sonic Tails and Knuckles are so we may help them in their time of need!"

The boys waited for a few moments, but nothing happened.

"Maybe it only responds to Knuckles," Miles guessed.

Frustrated, Chuck was about to punch the Master Emerald when something red glided past him and blocked his fist. It was Knuckles.

"Don't even think about it," Knuckles growled. "Or you'll get a pounding you won't forget!"

"Okay, jeez," Chuck responded, taking his hand back. "I wasn't going to break the Master Emerald, at least not on purpose."

"So what are you three doing here?" Knuckles demanded. "I hope you weren't planning to steal the Master Emerald while I was away."

"Not at all, Knuckles," Miles insisted. "We were just trying to see if we could use the Master Emerald to perform Chaos Control."

"Chaos Control?" Knuckles gave Miles a doubtful look. "What's that?"

"It's, uh, an ability that a certain individual had who could warp to different places using Chaos Emeralds which Sonny was able to copy," Miles explained without saying too much information.

"Is it someone I would know?"

"No, you wouldn't know him."

"Then how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"We've never lied to you once since we arrived here, Knuckles," Sonny claimed.

"Maybe, but…Robotnik tricked me not too long ago so I'm not particularly trusting of humans right now," Knuckles explained. "So if you'd be so kind as to leave this cave and go back to the beach, I'll join up with you and explain what's happened to Sonic and Tails."

"All right, Knuckles, we understand," Miles nodded and backed away.

Chuck was about to protest, but Sonny pinched his shoulder and made him follow Miles out of the cave with Knuckles following closely behind them.

To be continued…


	28. Chapter 28: Reunions and Mysteries

Chapter 28: Reunions and Mysteries

After Shawn and Blake arrived in Central City, they discovered that Silva had defeated the Heavy Gunner singlehandedly using his telekinetic abilities to send the missiles launched from Heavy Gunner's rocket-launcher straight back at him. Once they regrouped, The Commander sent them along with Omega (also known as E-123) to two different locations where reports of robots that looked similar to Heavy Gunner were coming from. This in turn caused the four to split up, with Shawn and Omega heading to Metal City while Blake and Silva were sent to Southern Island. There, Stilla and Marina had defeated the Heavy Shinobi using Ador-O-Bot 2000's magnetic ability to take away the katana from Heavy Shinobi's hand thus rendering him powerless.

"Hey, Marina," Blake said, entering a clearing surrounded by palm trees where the battle took place while Silva followed behind her. "Long time no see."

"Blake!" Marina exclaimed, and ran over to hug Blake tightly.

"You two know each other?" Silva asked.

"We became friends over the Internet a long time ago," Blake explained.

"We've been video-chatting for years, but now I'm finally meeting you in person after all this time," Marina added as she let go of Blake. "So what're you doing here?"

Blake hesitated to answer. "Well, we're—

"Agents of G. U. N.," Silva finished. "One of Doctor Eggman's robots was said to be attacking this island, and we were sent to investigate."

"So you're friends with the grumpy guy?" Stilla piped in, walking away from the fallen Heavy Shinobi after whacking it several times with her Boomerang.

"You mean Shawn?" When Stilla nodded, Silva said, "We're more like colleagues than friends."

"Do you know where he went? I got separated from him and Amelia when Doctor Eggman used a magic gem to transport us away from South Island."

"Magic gem?" Blake blinked. "Are you talking about the Phantom Ruby?"

"Yeah, what else do you think I'm talking about?"

Just then, Blake's wristwatch communicator went off and she answered it. Onscreen, Shawn and Omega's faces appeared along with Amelia and the Babylon Rogues.

" _How's the situation on Southern Island?_ " Shawn demanded before Blake could start.

"Um, by the time we got here…the robot was already beaten by these two," Blake stated, showing Marina and Stilla with Heavy Shinobi's body in the background.

"Although Ador-O-Bot 2000 did most of the work," Stilla said as she picked up the little robot.

" _What is that?_ " Shawn asked sternly.

"The green robot is Heavy Shinobi, one of the 'Hard-Boiled Heavies' according to Stilla, and the small one is Stilla's pet robot Ador-O-Bot 2000," Marina explained.

" _It looks like one of Eggman's robots,_ " Omega butted in.

"Used to be, until Tails reprogrammed it," replied Marina.

Though Shawn didn't look convinced, he said, " _We found another one of Eggman's robots here in Metal City. It was apparently called the Heavy Magician, and tried to attack us. But with help from Amelia and the Babylon Rogues, we defeated it easily._ "

"Excellent!" Blake exclaimed. "So let's regroup somewhere and look for the other robots."

" _And Doctor Eggman,_ " Shawn reminded her. " _He still has the Phantom Ruby, and is probably using it for who-knows-what. So the sooner we move, the better._ "

Then his image faded, leaving Blake irked. "Ugh! I hate it when he does that. Now I don't know where he wants us to regroup."

"The Commander will probably tell us," Silva figured. "But we should head back to the mainland, anyway."

"No problem," Marina smiled. "We can take my boat."

"Great," Silva nodded and followed Marina back to the beach while Blake and Stilla followed carrying Ador-O-Bot 2000.

###

Later, the four were cruising across the ocean in the _Super SS Marina_ with its captain at the wheel. Meanwhile, Stilla was cuddling with Ador-O-Bot 2000 while Blake and Silva talked between themselves.

"Maybe these Hard-Boiled Heavies aren't Eggman's," Blake suggested.

"Why do you say that?" Silva asked.

"According to Marina's account of the battle, the Heavy Shinobi claimed it belonged to 'Doctor Robotnik' and not 'Eggman.'"

"Even though Eggman's real name is Robotnik."

"True, but apparently the robot talked about a blue hedgehog that showed up when he and the other robots were digging up the Phantom Ruby along with a yellow fox."

"Did he refer to the creatures by name?"

"Yeah, Sonic and Tails."

"Weird. Could the robot have been referring to the spirits that supposedly occupied Sonny and his friends last year?"

"But if that were the case, then that means the Hard-Boiled Heavies are either from the dimension the spirits came from…or a different one altogether."

###

At the refinery known as Oil Ocean, Sonic and Tails were traversing the platforms and slides in order to avoid falling into the oil-filled water. They eventually came across a robot that resembled a construction worker, which Sonic spin-dashed into causing it to explode and fall.

"Sonic, he's going to hit the water which will ignite the oil and explode this place!" Tails realized. "We gotta get out of here!"

Grabbing Sonic, Tails flew high into the air as his prediction came true. However, only one part of the oil refinery exploded while the rest was intact. But this gave Sonic an idea as he turned on the gas in certain places, creating a crimson haze that blocked out the setting sun, and set more ponds of oil on fire by destroying more Badniks. Then as he and Tails ran across a metal bridge, it fell apart behind them. Confused, the two watched as a giant mechanical octopus rose from the black water shooting lasers from its tentacles and sending Sonic flying into the air using wheels. The top part of the octopus' head opened up and Doctor Robotnik appeared laughing maniacally as the octopus shot cannonballs from its nose-like hole.

"This isn't good," Tails remarked. "I wish Knuckles were here, or those humans from the parallel dimension."

Instead of frowning, Sonic grinned and spin-dashed straight towards the octopus' head as it began to submerge beneath the water.

To be continued…


	29. Chapter 29: Buying Time

Chapter 29: Buying Time

After Sonic and Tails defeated the mechanical octopus and freed the captured animals, they went back to where the _Tornado_ had crashed so Tails could start repairing it. Meanwhile, Knuckles explained the situation to Sonny Miles and Chuck who in turn wanted to help. But before they could figure out a plan, the volcano on the island suddenly erupted spewing smoke in the air.

"That's odd," Knuckles noted. "The volcano on this island usually never erupts, unless…"

"Unless what?" Chuck asked.

Without saying anything, Knuckles took off.

"Hey, come back!" Sonny cried, and ran after Knuckles.

"Wait, Sonny!" Miles exclaimed, using his newly recharged flying apparatus to take off into the air to catch up with Sonny.

"Ugh, why do you gotta do this to me?" Chuck grumbled and glided after them.

###

The four soon found themselves in the Lava Reef Zone, which was an underground cavern filled with magma. But several areas were blocked off by fences, Badniks were running amok, and there were metal tubes everywhere.

"I knew it," Knuckles growled. "Robotnik's here somewhere!"

Then he took off again, forcing Sonny and his friends to keep following him. They eventually found their way to the surface, revealing a starry sky against a volcanic valley running with rivers of lava. The sound of an airplane caught them off-guard, though Knuckles decided to continue back down and came across a giant drill.

"Are you the reason Lava Reef is going haywire?" Knuckles demanded, though the drill said nothing. "Well, take this!"

Gliding through the air, Knuckles was about to punch the drill when streak of blue ran past him. It hit the drill, which dented slightly, and unfurled revealing itself to be Sonic.

"You sure took your sweet time coming back," Knuckles remarked as the drill pierced the magma beneath them and turned red. "We gotta stop this drill before it causes the Lava Reef to overflow and destroy the island!"

Nodding in agreement, Sonic and Knuckles attacked the drill from all sides with Tails entering the fray after he landed the _Tornado_ in a safe place.

After destroying the drill, the three regrouped with Sonny and his friends. Together, they descended deeper into a geode full of crystals that changed their color constantly and fountains of magma pouring downward. There were also metal tubes that spewed fire from them, which were avoided, and inside a chamber of magma there were metal towers with Robotnik's face plastered on them. Beyond that, holes in the rock showed the outline of a metallic sphere.

"Looks like Robotnik's trying to rebuild the Death Egg," Knuckles observed, frowning. "How come I never noticed it before?"

"Because we were dealing with the Hard-Boiled Heavies," Miles answered. "Even though they weren't allied with Robotnik, their disruptive behavior kept us distracted long enough—

"To give Robotnik enough time to work on the Death Egg's reconstruction!" Tails exclaimed. "It seems to be almost ready for launch."

"Then we'd better stop it now!" Sonny stated.

" _Halt, robot fiends!_ "

The boys looked back and saw a purple robot with a helmet swing a giant mace around its head and riding a Badnik shaped like a beetle.

"You're one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, aren't you?" Tails asked.

" _That is correct,_ " said the purple robot in a female British accent. " _I am known as Heavy Rider, and this is Jimmy_."

The beetle grunted.

" _He was easy to tame, and is now my trusty steed,_ " Heavy Rider added, swinging the mace faster. " _Prepare for battle, Sonic and friends!_ "

She then came charging at them, forcing Sonic and the others to get out of the way. Then when they tried to attack her, Heavy Rider used the ramps to get to higher ground. Sonic pursued and had to avoid fire spewing from tubes which were activated when Heavy Rider rode over them.

###

As Amelia reached the G. U. N. helicopter that landed on the outskirts of Metal City, the Babylon Rogues stopped behind her.

"What is it?" Amelia asked, looking back.

"Sorry, Amelia, but we have some business to take care of," Jet said cryptically. "Maybe we'll see you later."

Then Jet got on his Extreme Gear and took off into the air with Wade and Sky following him. Surprised, Amelia hesitated but then decided to head over to the G. U. N. helicopter. Inside, Shawn and Omega sat.

"Where did the Babylon Rogues go?" Shawn demanded.

"I don't know," Amelia responded. "Jet just said they had some 'business to take care of,' whatever that means."

" _They might be heading to Babylon Garden, where reports are coming in of a purple robot riding a beetle-shaped Badnik,_ " Omega piped in.

"That sounds like one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies we fought back on South Island," Amelia realized. "We should probably help them."

"They can probably take care of it themselves," Shawn shrugged. "In the meantime we'll be regrouping with Stilla, her cousin Marina, Blake, and Silva at Prison Island where the Commander is waiting for us."

"Is Ador-O-Bot 2000 among them?"

Reluctantly, Shawn nodded.

Amelia glanced over at Omega nervously. "You're not going to hurt him, right?"

" _We'll see,_ " Omega replied.

###

After Sonny and Sonic destroyed the incomplete Death Egg, Tails informed them that the same strange signals from before were coming from Little Planet now.

"So while we were busy fighting his robots here, Robotnik was back on Little Planet?" Irritated, Knuckles punched the ground. "We should've known sooner."

"There's nothing we can do to change the past, Knuckles," Tails said calmly. "Except move forward."

While Sonic Tails and Knuckles left Angel Island in the _Tornado_ , Miles used his flying apparatus to follow while Sonny held onto Chuck's back as he glided. Sometime later, they came to a giant factory on Little Planet called Metallic Madness. They found Doctor Robotnik inside a metal tube and tried to attack him only for it to vanish. He then appeared in a different tube while electric sparks emanated from a machine above them.

To be continued…


	30. Chapter 30: Theory

Chapter 30: Theory

After defeating Robotnik, Sonic trudged ahead and got caught in a red light beam that shrunk him down to a miniature size. This surprised everyone except Sonic, who decided to keep moving. So the others followed his example and shrunk down as well. Fortunately, they found another beam (this one being blue) that returned them to normal size and traversed the Metallic Madness factory using both beams to their advantage. There was one room they came to in miniaturized form where a normal-sized Doctor Robotnik came flying down in a machine that released plastic balls which popped upon hitting the ground. In some, there were miniature versions of Robotnik while in others there was a pink hedgehog with medium-length quills wearing a green blouse and yellow skirt.

"Amy Rose!" Tails exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, the pink hedgehog reached out toward Sonic and grabbed onto him.

"That's not Amy," Knuckles stated, pulling Sonic away as Amy exploded. "It's a bomb."

"Whew, that was a close one," Tails remarked, looking at the other Amys running around. "I hope one of these isn't really her."

###

Once they had defeated the miniature Robotniks and Amys, the six attacked the machine directly causing the real Robotnik to pop out and run away. After that, they entered a high-tech metropolis known as Titan Monarch. There, Sonic Sonny and the others found a giant robot standing at the center.

"The Titan Monarch," Knuckles guessed. "That must be where Robotnik is."

"And possibly the Hard-Boiled Heavies," Tails added. "There are banners of them and Robotnik everywhere in this city."

"But why?" Sonny asked. "I thought the Hard-Boiled Heavies chose not to side with Robotnik since the Phantom Ruby made them more independent. Plus, he's technically not their creator."

"That may be the case, but Robotnik might have persuaded them to join him under the condition that they could share the Phantom Ruby's power together," Miles figured.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," Chuck said and glided with Knuckles into the air.

Miles and Tails followed while Sonny and Sonic ran along the ground. Reaching the giant robot known as Titan Monarch, the six used the giant wires and floating orbs to navigate the area around it while avoiding Badniks who attempted to take them on rides in their carts which they would deliberately crash and explode.

"And this is why I don't like roller-coasters," Chuck remarked after avoiding another Badnik.

"Because they're dangerous?" Miles assumed.

"Well, that, and they're too scary," Chuck answered.

"I usually like roller-coasters, but this wasn't cool," Sonny frowned. "Too bad you can't ask for a refund around here."

"We can always ask Robotnik himself," Tails suggested.

"Yeah, and beat him up if he refuses," Knuckles added, pumping his fists together.

###

Inside an elevator, they had to take down a robotic eye that tried to kill him. Then after that, the group entered Titan Monarch's interior. There were stain-glass windows in the background, depicting Robotnik, the Hard-Boiled Heavies, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Phantom Ruby.

"Sure wish we had the Chaos Emeralds with us now," Miles wished.

"You have Chaos Emeralds in your dimension?" Tails asked.

"Yeah," Miles nodded. "Do you?"

"Of course," Tails said as he pointed to Sonic. "He's been collecting them this whole time."

"Oh, why didn't you say so sooner?" Chuck wondered.

"Because we weren't sure if we could trust you," Knuckles stated.

"Really?" Sonny snapped. "After everything we've been through together?"

"You have to understand," Tails insisted as Miles and Chuck looked unhappy. "You're the first humans we've met who haven't tried to hurt us, or steal the Emeralds."

"But I did catch them trying to use the Master Emerald," Knuckles added.

"To help you guys!" Chuck interceded. "Ugh! I don't have to put up with this!"

Then Chuck glided away while Miles and Sonny followed. Sonic watched them leave, but didn't move as Knuckles took off in a different direction while Tails tried to follow him.

###

At Prison Island, Marina dropped Stilla Blake Silva and Ador-O-Bot 2000 off before heading back to Southern Island to help fix the damage Heavy Shinobi had caused. Meanwhile, Shawn Omega and Amelia showed up in the G. U. N. helicopter which immediately left after dropping them off. While Omega eyed Ador-O-Bot suspiciously, who hid behind Stilla, both groups entered the main facility and found the Commander waiting for them there. He looked no different from before, with the same short white hair and mismatched eyes that were red and blue. While everyone took turns telling their accounts of the battles with the Hard-Boiled Heavies, the Commander listened indifferently without saying a word in response.

Then the Commander's daughter, and fellow G. U. N. agent, Rouge Baxter came in. Her ash-blonde hair was medium-length as usual, with the same turquoise-colored eyes, and was wearing the same outfit she had worn numerous times before which consisted of a pink strapless top with a heart-shaped cutout exposing her cleavage, black skin-tight pants, white boots and matching gloves. She proceeded to whisper something to the Commander, who nodded in turn.

"We just received word that the Babylon Rogues managed to successfully eliminate the Badnik that was plaguing Babylon Garden, which apparently went by the name Heavy Rider," the Commander stated to the group. "And like the others you've described, it claimed to be formerly working for Robotnik and not Eggman."

Blake raised her hand. "I have a theory about that."

"Go ahead," the Commander approved.

"Given the nature of the Phantom Ruby's powers, based on what we've seen so far, it might be possible that the Hard-Boiled Heavies are not from this dimension but another." When the Commander's eyebrow raised, Blake continued. "Now do you recall a year ago when Sonny and his friends were possessed by spirits from another dimension, with Shawn included?"

"Yes," the Commander acknowledged.

"Well, suppose that this dimension had its own version of Eggman who then created his version of the Hard-Boiled Heavies and looked for the Phantom Ruby in his world," Blake suggested. "Then when he unearthed it, the Phantom Ruby from that dimension reacted to the one in this dimension and the two created a portal that connected our worlds causing Sonny, Miles, and Chuck to vanish along with Eggman's Hard-Boiled Heavies who in turn got replaced by the Hard-Boiled Heavies from the other dimension."

"That's not a bad theory, except it doesn't explain why neither I, Amelia, or Stilla have been able communicate with the spirits since this whole thing started," Shawn interrupted. "Because if these robots were from the same dimension as these spirits, they would've said something about them by now."

Flinching, Blake said, "I don't have an explanation for that at the moment, but maybe if we find Eggman and take the Phantom Ruby from him…we'll get our answers."

To be continued…


	31. Chapter 31: Vortex

**This'll be the end of the _Sonic Mania_ story-arc, and then I'll wait until _Sonic Forces_ comes out which will be in a few days 8D! So excited!**

Chapter 31: Vortex

After separating from Sonny Miles and Chuck, Sonic Tails and Knuckles stumbled upon a swirling purple vortex that had suddenly appeared.

"What is that?" Knuckles wondered.

"It looks to be some kind of portal," Tails guessed. "But I have no idea where it'll lead to."

Tapping his foot impatiently, Sonic jumped into the portal while Tails and Knuckles followed. On the other side, the three entered a chamber where Doctor Robotnik had strapped himself to a mech with multiple arms and the Phantom Ruby at its center. When Knuckles and Sonic tried to attack him, the Phantom Ruby generated an energy shield that prevented Robotnik from being harmed. Then as Robotnik bounced around, the arms became electrified forcing Tails to fly around them. On top of that, missiles launched from the mech's back which Sonic avoided as he spin-dashed into Robotnik during brief periods when the shield wasn't activated. Knuckles followed Sonic's example, but then a pair of glowing crimson-colored hands appeared grabbing him and Tails. Unable to escape, the hands crystallized and soon Knuckles and Tails found themselves in another part of the Titan Monarch where they encountered Heavy Gunner who was now sporting two giant missile launchers.

"Jeez," Knuckles remarked. "How'd you get so powerful, Heavy Gunner?"

" _It is Phantom Gunner now!_ " cried Heavy Gunner as he sent another barrage of missiles at them.

Just then, Sonny and Miles showed up and attacked Phantom Gunner from both sides. Overwhelmed, it was defeated easily. Then, Sonny and Miles were transported to the same room where Sonic was still fighting against Robotnik. They in turn aided him, but the crimson hands appeared causing Sonny and Miles to be transported to somewhere else and encountered Heavy Shinobi who now resembled a giant green Shuriken that spun rapidly toward them.

" _You are enemies of Robotnik, therefore Phantom Shinobi will eliminate you,_ " Heavy Shinobi announced as Knuckles suddenly came in.

He punched Phantom Shinobi so hard that the blades from his body flew everywhere. Fortunately, they missed Sonny and Miles who were transported away along with Knuckles. They found themselves back in the same room with Sonic and Robotnik, who now had only two arms left. Then when the crimson hands appeared, they grabbed Sonic and Knuckles who were transported to Heavy Magician who manipulated three giant metal cups around.

" _I hope you enjoy Phantom Magician's show, because it'll be the last one you'll ever see!_ " Heavy Magician stated as two of the cups lifted causing purple lasers to spew out.

Before they hit Sonic and Knuckles, they were saved by Chuck who attacked Phantom Magician before being transported away. This time, Sonny and Miles managed to get Robotnik down to one arm. Then just as they were about to attack him together, Sonic Tails and Knuckles suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you guys go?" Miles asked.

"We were fighting Heavy Rider—I mean Phantom Rider," Tails corrected himself. "She was no match for us, though."

Then the six of them attacked Robotnik from all sides, causing his mech to explode. But the Phantom Ruby was intact as it teleported Sonic and Sonny away. They found themselves floating in a purple void with the Chaos Emeralds circling both of them. The Phantom Ruby was also floating nearby, but then a large yellow-and-red robot emerged from below and dragged the Phantom Ruby away.

"Who are you?" Sonny demanded.

" _I was once known as Heavy King,_ " the yellow-and-red robot explained. " _Now, I am Phantom King…and your demise!_ "

The Phantom Ruby then attached itself to the Phantom King's head. Then Robotnik came flying in his Egg Mobile with two giant arms attached to it, and tried wrestling with Phantom King. Unfortunately, Phantom King used the Ruby's power to transport Robotnik away leaving Sonny and Sonic to deal with him. Using the Chaos Emeralds, they transformed into their Super selves with Sonic sporting gold quills while Sonny's hair turned gold and their eyes both changed to red. While Sonic fought the Phantom King in the air, he managed to knock the Phantom Ruby off the King's head. As a result, Robotnik caught it as he emerged from below. So Sonny went down to deal with him and knocked the Phantom Ruby away which ended up on the King's head once more. This continued several more times until both the Phantom King and Doctor Robotnik were defeated. Then the Phantom Ruby hovered midair, followed by a flash of light as both Sonny and Sonic's Super selves were deactivated.

As the Chaos Emeralds floated around the Phantom Ruby, a large purple vortex appeared. Before Sonic could react, Sonny grabbed the Phantom Ruby and got sucked into the vortex. Because of this, the Chaos Emeralds floated to Sonic causing him to go Super again and follow Sonny. From a safe distance, Tails and Knuckles watched as Titan Monarch exploded and Little Planet vanished.

"I sure hope Sonic and those humans are okay," Tails said remorsefully. "If only we knew where they went."

"They're probably fine," Knuckles responded, putting a gloved hand on Tails' shoulder. "You just gotta have faith in them."

###

Back on Prison Island, the Commander and the others were informed of a strange object appearing over a place called Never Lake.

"It must be Little Planet!" Amelia exclaimed, causing everyone to look at her.

"How do you know that?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know," Amelia responded. "I'm remembering things that I don't remember happening."

"Could it be the memories of the spirit that possesses you?" Silva suggested.

Amelia shook her head. "No, I've seen them and these are not hers."

"Perhaps this object is from a different dimension that is similar to our own, but not the one where the spirits came from, and it's emitting some kind of energy that's triggering memories from Amelia's alternate self from that dimension," Blake speculated.

"Well, we won't know until we get there." Shawn then glanced at the Commander. "If the Commander's okay with it, that is."

The Commander nodded. "You're free to go. The Chaotix Detectives will meet you there, as they were the ones who told us about the phenomena."

"What were they doing at Never Lake?" Amelia wondered.

"'Taking a well-deserved rest' according to Victor," replied the Commander.

"Meaning they were probably shirking their duties to go on vacation." Amelia sighed. "I'll never understand Victor sometimes."

To be continued…


	32. Chapter 32: Equilibrium

**For the next two chapters, I'll be covering the aftermath of the previous story-arc and leading into the next one.**

Chapter 32: Equilibrium

At Never Lake, Amelia Shawn Blake Silva Stilla Omega and Ador-O-Bot 2000 met up with the Chaotix Detectives. Though their core members were still Victor Charles and Espen, they also had Michael and Rae to help them out every once in a while.

"Hey, guys!" Victor waved, wearing a black vest and jeans with a compass tattoo on his left shoulder. Though he didn't wear the headphones anymore, he still wore the gold chain necklace.

"So good to see you again, Victor," Amelia said, hugging Victor.

After Victor returned the hug, Amelia introduced him to Stilla and Ador-O-Bot 2000.

Though he didn't mind Stilla, Victor gave Ador-O-Bot a confused look. "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Of course he is!" Stilla insisted, picking up Ador-O-Bot and squeezing it tightly. "Do you doubt these adorable eyes?"

As if to prove Stilla's point, Ador-O-Bot attempted to bat its eyes innocently.

Scratching his head, Victor turned to Amelia and the others. "I sent the boys to evacuate the area in case Eggman shows up."

"He will," Shawn stated. "Omega's been tracking his movements this entire time."

" _That is correct,_ " Omega confirmed.

Using a motor boat that Victor had rented, the group ventured off toward the spherical object that now floated over Never Lake with a broken chain hanging down. But because he exceeded the boat's weight capacity, Omega was forced to use his rocket boosters to fly so Silva used his telekinesis to float alongside him. As they got closer to the chain, though, a familiar round object appeared several yards away with a group of brightly colored robots floating around it.

" _It is Doctor Eggman,_ " Omega announced. " _Though I do not recognize the units that are accompanying him._ "

"They're the Hard-Boiled Heavies!" Amelia realized, and turned to Victor. "Is there any way to make this boat go faster?"

"I'm going as fast as I can," Victor replied. "If I go any faster, we'll all be flying off the boat!"

"I know what to do," Stilla abruptly said. "Lift, Ador-O-Bot!"

On command, Ador-O-Bot 2000 spread its hands. The boat was lifted into the air like Marina's, only this time it was flying straight toward the chain. Everyone held on tightly in order to not fall off, while Omega and Silva flew faster to catch up. This caught Eggman's attention, and so he ordered the Hard-Boiled Heavies to intercept them as he held the Phantom Ruby in his hand.

"Uh-oh," Silva noticed. "We've got company, Omega."

" _Combat mode engaged!_ " Omega announced as its hands turned into mini-guns and immediately fired them at the Hard-Boiled Heavies.

In response, the Hard-Boiled Heavies separated and surrounded the boat from all sides. This caused Shawn to warp to the Heavy Gunner who fired a dozen missiles at him, forcing Shawn back onto the boat. Then Stilla attempted to hit Heavy Shinobi with her Boomerang, but his Shuriken-shaped body blocked it. Next, Amelia leaped from the boat and swung the Piko Hammer towards Heavy Magician who disappeared underneath a giant metal cup and used two others to capture Amelia inside them. Blake, meanwhile, attempted to use her pyrokinesis to burn Heavy Rider's motorcycle which miraculously stayed intact. During all of this, the Heavy Monarch laughed maniacally as electrical orbs surrounded his body zapping Silva and Omega in the process.

" _Resistance is futile,_ " Heavy Monarch stated. " _You cannot hope to defeat the Phantom Heavies._ "

"Phantom Heavies?" Victor cocked his head. "I thought you were hard-boiled."

"Not anymore," Eggman cut in, floating next to Heavy Monarch. "Thanks to the Phantom Ruby's power, they've been...'upgraded' significantly."

"But are they not from this dimension?" Blake inquired.

"Indeed," Eggman nodded. "They are from a parallel dimension that is similar to our own, only with anthropomorphic animals as well as humans. There's even a version of me named Robotnik, who created them originally to look for a Phantom Ruby there. But it seems the two Phantom Rubies reacted so strongly to one another that a portal was formed between our worlds. While Sonny, Miles, Chuck and _my_ Hard-Boiled Heavies were transported to this other dimension, these ones came here in their place at the cost of our spirits disappearing."

This shocked everyone, especially Stilla. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Eggman sneered. "If your spirits were still possessing you, you'd know exactly what's going on and have transformed by now."

Stilla tried to say something, but couldn't.

"Now, are you familiar with the concept of equilibrium?" When Stilla didn't speak, Eggman continued. "Anyway, my theory is that because Sonny and his friends teleported to the other world, along with the Hard-Boiled Heavies, something had to be removed to make way for these Hard-Boiled Heavies. Namely: the spirits that possessed me, you, Amelia, Shawn, Sonny, Miles, Chuck, and presumably D-Fekt since Lyric's dead."

Hearing that, Ador-O-Bot flinched.

"But only five spirits would have sufficed," Blake observed. "Why the extra three?"

"Because…" Eggman pondered this for a moment before snapping his finger. "They had to be sacrificed to allow Sonny, Miles, and Chuck to enter the other dimension."

"So I'll…never see Sticks again…" Stilla's head lowered.

"Probably not," Eggman replied bluntly, and sneered at Ador-O-Bot. "But maybe if you hand over D-Fekt…I might be able to find a way to bring her back."

Stilla sniffled. "Sorry, Eggman, but Ador-O-Bot's not for sale!"

As if on queue, Ador-O-Bot used his magnetic powers to make the Hard-Boiled Heavies crash into one another which allowed Silva Omega and Amelia to be released. Then he combined them all into a multi-colored metal ball before flinging it in Eggman's direction. Immediately, Eggman used the Phantom Ruby to teleport away so the ball went flying towards Little Planet. There was a brief flash of light, and Little Planet was gone. Amazed, Amelia looked at the water beneath where Little Planet floated and noticed two bodies floating on the lake's surface.

"It's Miles and Chuck!" Amelia realized. "We need to get over to them before they drown!"

"Right," Stilla nodded, though she was still looking downward.

Ador-O-Bot steered the boat over to where Miles and Chuck were, allowing Silva to levitate them out of the water.

To be continued…


	33. Chapter 33: Speculation

Chapter 33: Speculation

"I suppose it was the Phantom Ruby's power that brought Little Planet here as well as us," Miles reflected, after he and Chuck had recovered from almost drowning in Never Lake and explained what happened to them while Amelia did the same. "And Doctor Eggman's explanation about why our spirits disappeared does make sense."

"Then why did Little Planet disappear along with the Hard-Boiled Heavies from the other dimension?" Shawn asked, leaning against the window in a hospital-room Miles and Chuck had been taken to.

"Probably because Eggman's Phantom Ruby was the only thing that attracted them to this dimension," Miles figured. "So when he vanished, Little Planet went back to its home-dimension and took the Hard-Boiled Heavies with it since they were close enough to be caught in its gravitational pull."

"But it left you and Chuck behind," Victor pointed out. "Now why's that?"

"Because the inhabitants of Little Planet decided to let us go, as thanks for stopping Robotnik along with Sonny, Sonic, and his friends," Miles replied.

"So where is Sonny?" Amelia demanded.

Miles shook his head. "I don't know. He and Sonic both vanished along with Robotnik. So Tails and Knuckles figured something bad was going to happen, and left while we stayed behind. I'm guessing they were transported to someplace beyond our dimensions, where they confronted Robotnik and the leader of Eggman's Hard-Boiled Heavies. But seeing neither Sonny or Sonic with us does concern me."

" _Perhaps the combined strength of Robotnik and the Hard-Boiled Heavy leader were too much for them,_ " Omega guessed, causing everyone to glare at him. " _My apologies, but it is a likely explanation given the present circumstances._ "

"Even so, we can't lose faith in Sonny just because he hasn't returned yet," Silva claimed. "Or his counterpart Sonic, for that matter."

"Based on your descriptions, Miles, it sounds like the creatures from this other dimension weren't the same ones that possessed you and the others a year ago," Blake observed. "Any idea why that was?"

"Sonny and I figured the dimension we were in wasn't a parallel dimension like the one where the spirits came from, but a past version of our own world," Miles explained. "He remembered something happening on his twentieth birthday that I don't remember, where a being called Mephiles the Dark attempted to destroy our world and a past one but we stopped him thanks the spirits from the past Mobius which had possessed us for a number of years up to that point."

"How's that possible?" Victor questioned. "How can two Mobiuses exist in the same timeline?"

"Remember the Dark Gaia incident?" When Victor nodded, Amelia continued, "Well, the idea is that every few eons Dark Gaia destroys the world and then Light Gaia rebuilds it. Therefore, it could be possible that there are countless versions of Mobius that exist in this timeline with some elements from the previous world carrying over. For instance, Sonic was a blue hedgehog that could run really fast. Sonny is a blue-haired human that runs fast, therefore they must be the same being but in different forms."

"Ugh, this stuff's way over my head," Charles exclaimed, holding onto his aviary cap.

Espen scoffed, causing the yellow tuft in his spiky purple hair to move slightly. "If these events Sonny described are true, then how come he remembers it while we don't?"

"Light Gaia, who appeared to Sonny as Chip, claims it's because of the strong connection between him and Sonic," Amelia claimed, clenching her fist. "And that's why I don't think Sonny is gone for good."

"How can you prove that, though?" Shawn said skeptically.

"Because I'm going to find him," Amelia declared and walked straight for the door.

"I'll come with you," Miles offered, getting out of the bed he was lying in.

"Same here," Chuck added, leaving his bed too.

"Don't forget about us," Victor grinned, pulling Charles and Espen close to him. "With the Chaotix Detectives by your side, Sonny will be found before you know it!"

"Uh, yeah," Charles chimed in.

"So long as Victor doesn't get distracted," Espen muttered.

Victor glared at Espen for a moment before dragging him and Charles to the door.

"Thank you, guys," Amelia smiled, feeling tears well up in her eyes. But she held them back and looked at Stilla. "Do you want to come along?"

"No, I'm good," Stilla frowned, holding Ador-O-Bot 2000 in her hands. "I should check on Marina, make sure she's doing all right after everything that's happened."

"We should get going too," Shawn announced, glancing at Silva Blake and Omega. "The Commander's probably waiting for us on Prison Island, and then we'll see if he might help you in your search."

"Thanks, Shawn," Amelia responded, wiping her eyes.

Then Amelia left the hospital-room while Miles, Chuck, and the Chaotix Detectives followed.

"That was actually pretty generous of you," Blake said, turning to Shawn. "Who knew you could actually be nice for a change, instead of moping and grumpy?"

Shawn folded his arms. "I only said that to give her hope, though I'm doubtful if she and the others will actually find Sonny."

"All the more reason we should ask for G. U. N's help," Silva butted in. "I'm sure the Commander would be more than willing to provide services that'll make the search for Sonny much easier."

" _Why should we spend the resources to finding Sonny when we could simply obtain the Phantom Ruby from Doctor Eggman and use it to bring Sonny back ourselves?_ " Omega suggested, causing the others to look at him.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Omega," Shawn grinned.

"Yeah," Silva agreed. "Let's do that!"

"I'm game," Blake shrugged. "But where do we start? Since he used the Phantom Ruby to transport himself away, he could be anywhere in the world."

" _Not if my sensors have anything to say about that,_ " Omega claimed as his eyes blinked.

"Then just tell us where to go, and we'll get there," Shawn said, pulling a hand out of his vest-pocket holding a red Chaos Emerald.

To be continued…


	34. Chapter 34: New Recruit

**So this last story-arc will be my version of** ** _Sonic Forces_** **with some things changed to fit my story. For instance, the Avatar character will be a humanized version of the one from the game trailers and not individually customized. Hope you guys enjoy this and be sure to check out my other fanfics as well!**

Chapter 34: New Recruit

Six months had passed, and neither Sonny nor his counterpart Sonic had been found. As a result, Doctor Eggman used this opportunity to finally take over the world with massive armies of robots that were as tall as buildings and as small as people. G. U. N. tried their best to take them down, but they were swiftly defeated by four individuals acting as Eggman's generals and their mysterious leader. As a result, the people of Mobius started to lose hope until a rag-tag group of rebels led by Chuck formed. Known as the Resistance, they bravely fought against Eggman's forces while also protecting the populace at large.

"This isn't good," Victor remarked as he entered a circular room where Amelia was sitting at a desk with a computer on it while Silva Charles and Espen stood nearby. "Eggman's forces aren't letting up, we don't have the strength to push them back."

"Then we've got to try harder," Silva insisted. "We can't let them get past our defenses."

"If only Sonny were here," Amelia muttered out loud.

"But he isn't," Espen pointed out. "So we have to make do with what we have."

"Speaking of which, wasn't there a new recruit coming in today?" Charles wondered.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Amelia remembered, and typed a few buttons on the computer.

Just then, the automatic door Victor came in through opened revealing Chuck.

"Hey, guys," Chuck waved. "I've got some good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Let's get the bad news out of the way first," Espen suggested, while everyone else nodded.

"Green Hill's defense has been compromised, so we've been forced to retreat," Chuck announced, grimacing. Then he turned towards the automatic door which was still open. "But I have the new recruit with me. He survived an attack by Eggman two months ago, and risked his life coming here."

Through the automatic door stepped a teenage boy with short wavy red hair and orange eyes wearing black square-framed glasses, a green army jacket, torn jeans, and military boots.

"Hmm, doesn't look like much," Charles remarked, looking at the boy from head to toe. "What's his name?"

"Go on, kid, introduce yourself!" Chuck patted the boy on the back so hard that he stumbled forward awkwardly.

With everyone staring at him, the boy stuttered, "M-My name is…A-Ava…T-Taren."

"Ava?" Charles raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Not necessarily," Espen pointed out. "Boys can be called 'Ava' too, but it's uncommon."

"Are you sure he's got what it takes to roll with us?" Victor asked, scratching his head. "Do your parents even know where you are, kid?"

In response, Ava lowered his head.

"Oh, sorry I asked," Victor apologized.

There was an awkward period of silence that followed before Chuck took out a device shaped like a red flame and placed it in Ava's hands. "Take this, as a token of our appreciation for you joining our merry band of freedom fighters."

"What is it?" Ava questioned, putting the device in his right hand.

"It's s a Wispon," Amelia explained. "It utilizes the Hyper-go-on Energy that small aliens called Wisps produce without requiring the person to merge with an actual Wisp to use their powers."

"All the Resistance members have similar devices," Chuck said. "Our friend Miles Prower made them before he went away."

"Where did he go?" When no one answered, Ava looked embarrassed.

"Let's get you some more gear, shall we?" Chuck put an arm around Ava's shoulders and led him towards the automatic door. "You'll need a lot more than a Wispon to take down Eggman with."

###

Sometime later, Ava was wearing a crimson red suit with a light yellow sash and belt that had various pockets, a green headset and gloves, and a silver wristband on his left hand while the other was covered by the Wispon.

" _Okay, rookie, so here's the deal,_ " Victor said through Ava's headset. " _We just received word from our spy Rouge that our missing pal Sonny Hedge is actually alive and being held captive aboard the Death Egg, Eggman's notorious space-station._

" _So what we want_ you _to do is break into Chemical Plant and 'borrow' a shuttle to get inside the Death Egg and rescue Sonny,_ " Amelia added. " _And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us, Ava._ "

"S-Sure thing," Ava replied nervously before aiming his wristband-covered hand at a set of curved tubes leading into the Chemical Plant.

From his wristband emerged a black wire that attached itself to one of the tubes. Holding on, Ava was propelled upward and proceeded to run along the tubes till he came to a walkway that was crawling with robots.

" _I'll deal with the Badniks,_ " Espen's voice said through the headset. " _You just concentrate on getting into that shuttle, rookie._ "

Not saying anything, Ava used his Wispon to set the oncoming robots ablaze. Then sometime later, he leaped onto a passing train but wound up hanging off the edge of it. He pulled himself up just before the train was about to head under a low ceiling forcing him to aim the grappling wire towards another set of rails. But as he was about to land, another train came his way forcing him to leap away.

Eventually, he reached the Spaceport where a large red and yellow shuttle was about to take off. Quickly, Ava got inside the cargo doors as they were closing before the shuttle became airborne.

###

Inside a prison cell, Sonny was sitting up in a flat bed having grown longer hair and looking more disheveled than usual.

"Hello, Sonny," said a menacing voice outside the cell doors.

It belonged to a creature that looked human but with long blue hair tied into a ponytail, red skin, curved horns, and wearing nothing but spiked leather braces and black pants.

"Oh, hey, Zak," Sonny responded wearily. "Are you here to torture me again?"

"It's Zavok!" the creature known as Zak insisted. "And no, you'll not be tortured today."

"Then why are you here?"

"In a few hours, Eggman will have your body launched out into space to set an example for those meddlesome Resistance fighters on Mobius. Unless…you tell us where the Phantom Ruby from Sonic's dimension is."

To be continued…


	35. Chapter 35: Rescue Mission

Chapter 35: Rescue Mission

Sighing, Sonny said, "I've told you already, Zak—or Zavok. I lost the Phantom Ruby while traveling between dimensions."

"Then how did you come back to this dimension?" Zak/Zavok asked.

"Probably because of the Phantom Ruby Eggman has."

"Who told you that?"

"No one; I just figured he had one because the place I went to technically was a past version of this world."

"Huh?"

"It would take to long to explain, and I don't think it's something your muscle-bound brain could understand, Zak."

"It's Zavok!" The red-skinned demon clenched his fists, and was about to punch the cell doors that separated him and Sonny. But at the last minute, he stopped. "Maybe you'll change your mind in a few hours. After all, no one can hear you scream in space."

Then Zavok walked away laughing maniacally while Sonny attempted to break through the cell doors only to get electrocuted in the process.

###

In an abandoned city that had been nicknamed Ghost Town, Miles was tinkering with Omega's body which was currently not moving.

"Sorry I couldn't save you sooner," Miles apologized. "It's just—

Before he could finish, the sound of gurgling water caught his attention. Behind him appeared a watery figure with big green eyes and visible organs.

"Chaos!" Miles exclaimed. "I thought you were gone for good!"

Then just as Chaos was about to attack, a blue ball came out of nowhere and crushed it into a small puddle. Surprised, Miles watched as the ball uncurled itself.

Recognizing the blue hedgehog that stood before him, Miles blinked in disbelief. "Sonic?"

In response, the blue hedgehog pointed to itself.

"Whoa," Miles responded. "So if my theory is correct…Eggman currently has the Phantom Ruby from _your_ world, which is probably why you're here, and Sonny has the Phantom Ruby from _our_ world. Do you know where he is, by chance?"

Sonic shook his head.

"Well, you could still help me," Miles said confidently, trying to hide his disappointment. "I'm trying to find the secret to Eggman's power, which I think is the Phantom Ruby. If we can get ahold of it, it'll stop Eggman and allow us to bring back Sonny. How does that sound?"

Giving Miles a thumbs-up, Sonic then grabbed Miles' hand and dragged him out of the city.

###

Onboard the Death Egg, Ava left the shuttle and had to deal with more Badniks.

" _The Prison Hall should be up ahead,_ " Rouge directed through Ava's headset. " _That's where Eggman's keeping Sonny and the other Resistance members he's captured._ "

" _This is unforgivable,_ " Silva interrupted. " _Eggman will pay big time!_ "

Instead of answering, Ava just continued onward until he came to a prison cell that had been forced open. Next to it stood a deep chasm with a hexagonal platform hovering over. The nearby prisoners cheered as a blue-haired individual fought against a red-skinned demon riding a giant mechanical bee.

"If you thought breaking your chains would see you free, think again, Sonny!" cried the red-skinned demon as smaller bees appeared around the platform.

"We'll see about that, Zavok!" responded the blue-haired individual.

Dodging the smaller bees, Sonny leaped up into the air and rammed into Zavok directly several times. He didn't go down right away, but was weakened significantly forcing him to fly the giant bee right into Sonny while the smaller bees served as a distraction. But Sonny didn't fall for it and continued hitting Zavok until he fell off the giant bee. Landing on his face, Zavok briefly groaned before passing out. Then a flash of red light distorted his image and caused him to vanish altogether, followed by an electrical humming noise.

"Huh, I've never seen bad guys do _that_ before," Sonny contemplated out loud and then shrugged. "Oh, well, time to free these inmates and get out of here!"

In a flash of blue, all the prison cell doors were open allowing the prisoners inside to escape. This was then followed by a series of flashing red lights and alarms.

" _What did you do, new kid?_ " Rouge demanded. " _The Death Egg is on high alert now!_ "

"S-Sonny escaped and he…released the prisoners, before taking off," Ava responded sheepishly.

Groaning, Rouge said, " _Get the prisoners organized and lead them to the Egg Gate. There's a shuttle that's heading back down to Mobius in a few minutes. If you guys could hijack that before it takes off, you'll have a pretty good shot at getting off this oversized piñata in one piece. And if Sonny's smart, he'll rendezvous with you there._ "

"Okay," Ava acknowledged.

Under Rouge's guidance, Ava led the prisoners through a series of corridors and tunnels while protecting them with the Wispon. Once they got into the cargo bay, the shuttle was preparing to take off and more Badniks were coming their way.

"You guys stop the shuttle," Ava told the prisoners. "I'll deal with the Badniks."

Not questioning him, the prisoners quickly got onto the ship while Ava set several Badniks on fire. Unfortunately, he got surrounded by too many of them at once and was cornered. Then just before one could lay a hand on him, a series of explosions occurred followed by silence. Curious, Ava opened his eyes and looked up to see Sonny staring down at him.

"It's all right, kid," Sonny said holding his hand out. "Everything's cool now that I'm here."

Taking Sonny's hand, Ava got to his feet despite the shakiness he was feeling.

"What's your name?" Sonny asked.

Hearing Chuck's voice on the other end of his headset, Ava reluctantly removed it so Sonny could hear Chuck talking.

" _His name's Ava Taren,_ " Chuck answered in Ava's stead. " _And he's here to rescue you._ "

"Well, that's very flattering, Chuck, but I—

" _Sonny!_ " Amelia's voice interrupted. " _Where have you been? I've been so worried._ "

"It's a long story," Sonny responded. "I'll tell you all about it as soon as I'm back on Mobius."

###

Later, just as the shuttle full of freed prisoners including Sonny and Ava was about to descend towards Mobius, they received a transmission from Chuck.

" _Hey, Sonny, I know you just got of prison…but there's something I want you to do for me,_ " Chuck said pleadingly.

"What is it, Chuck?" Sonny inquired.

" _In the time it took to stage your jailbreak, Eggman got a weapons factory up and running at Green Hill. Known as Arsenal Pyramid, it's going to significantly decrease our war efforts if it isn't destroyed immediately. Think you can do that?_ "

"No problem," Sonny smirked. "I can destroy factories in my sleep!"

" _Then take the rookie,_ " Chuck encouraged. " _He could learn a thing or two from you._ "

" _I don't know,_ " Victor chimed in. " _The kid barely made it out of Death Egg, thanks to Sonny._ "

"It's not a problem," Ava interrupted, causing Sonny to look at him. This made Ava look down in embarrassment. "I'll try to keep up."

"That's the spirit," Sonny encouraged, patting Ava's shoulder. "Now let's get down to Green Hill and get rid of that eyesore of a pyramid, shall we?"

"Yeah," Ava murmured as he smiled a little.

To be continued…


	36. Chapter 36: Following the Leader

Chapter 36: Following the Leader

At Arsenal Pyramid, Sonny and Ava made their way through hordes of robots together without any difficulty. In fact, they even managed to pull off a move where they both spun simultaneously up the pyramid's side and into the factory itself. Once inside, the two navigated past several clockwork gears until they reached a chamber where giant warheads were being pushed along a series of conveyor belts.

"That was amazing," Sonny said, reflecting on the move from earlier. "I don't think anyone's ever been able to spin at the same speed as me and not fall behind."

"Well, I…did see you on TV a lot," Ava admitted. "Back when you were called the Blue Blur."

"Oh, yeah, it feels like ages since I've been called that." Sonny then shook his head. "Anyway, let's rig this place to blow up and leave before Eggman's bots catch up to us."

"Right," Ava nodded and followed Sonny's lead.

"So I was thinking of calling it the Double Boost," Sonny abruptly said. "That move we pulled off before."

"Okay," Ava responded half-heartedly. "I'm not sure why we have to name it."

"It comes with being a hero, kid," Sonny stated. "You gotta have cool names for attacks."

"I see." Using his wire, Ava swung onto a railing to plant a bomb before coming back down. Then Ava noticed some Badniks heading their way and used the wire to push them back. "Maybe I'll this move the…Wire Attack…"

"That's not a bad start," Sonny complemented and used his Spin Attack to decimate the robots. "You'll get better with more experience."

"If you say so," Ava muttered, using the Wispon to boost himself into the air with flames.

###

" _Sonny, Silva is in trouble!_ " Amelia shouted through the headset, causing Ava to flinch. " _You need to get over to the Mystic Jungle, and fast!_ "

"Okay, we're on it," Sonny replied. He and Ava had left Green Hill after Arsenal Pyramid had blown up several hours ago, as the sun was starting to set. "What was he doing there, anyway?"

" _He was investigating some unusual activity that might be caused by one of Eggman's generals or possibly their leader._ "

"Any idea who they are?"

" _We know Zak, or Zavok, was one of them as he kidnapped most of those prisoners you rescued earlier but the others are unknown._ "

"Including the leader?"

" _Unfortunately, yes, so it's important that you collect as much information as possible if the guy Silva's fighting right now turns out to be either a general or the leader._ "

"Gotcha."

" _Same goes for the kid, and make sure he doesn't get hurt. Okay, Sonny?_ "

"He's been doing fine so far, so there's no need to worry."

" _And I sometimes wonder why I dated you,_ " Amelia groaned.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Ava asked after Amelia hung up.

"Yeah, though we've had periods of ups and downs."

"But isn't that normal for a relationship?"

"Sure, though our lives have been far from normal for a while now."

###

Sometime later, Sonny and Ava were traversing the Mystic Jungle which was now overrun by Eggman's robots and casinos.

"This used to be unspoiled greenery, and now look at it," Sonny frowned. "Such a shame…"

Ava was about to respond when a giant snake suddenly appeared up ahead of them. "Sonny! Look out!"

Unfortunately, Sonny was too late as he fell right into the snake's open mouth. Ava swung himself onto a nearby tree and watched as the snake attempted to digest Sonny. But a series of internal ruptures followed, forcing the snake to regurgitate Sonny who leaped out of its mouth and continued onward while Ava followed a few feet behind.

###

Near some ruins, Silva was knocked back against a cliff midair.

" ** _Pathetic,_** " said a menacing voice. " ** _Is this the best the Resistance can do to stop me?_** "

As Silva watched, a figure floated down from above. It was human in appearance with long white dreadlocks tied back, wearing a mask shaped like a jackal's head with one eye that was black while the other was bright red with a yellow iris. Clothing-wise, it wore a long black trench-coat with matching pants, silver-lined gloves, and ankle-length leather boots. Then on its chest was a pink triangular stone that seemed to glow.

"Who…are you?" Silva demanded wearily.

In response, the figure shook its head. " ** _My name is not important, since you'll be dead soon._** "

Then as the figure streaked downward, it was intercepted by a blue blur that revealed itself to be Sonny who stood in front of Silva.

"That's enough," Sonny said, staring up at the figure angrily. "No one attacks my friend and gets away with it!"

" ** _So you're the rat who escaped his cage recently,_** " the figure responded in a bemused tone. " ** _I can't tell you how pleased Eggman will be once I eliminate you._** "

"So you're one of Eggman's generals?" Sonny looked over to the nearby trees and saw Ava press a button on his headset.

The figure huffed. " ** _I'm far above those cretins I have to work with._** "

"Mind telling me who they are? I might know some of them."

" ** _And what would you gain from such knowledge?_** "

"A sense of who you are in relation to them, maybe an idea of how you're floating like that."

The figure sighed in irritation. " ** _If you really must know, I am known as Infinite._** "

"Now what's your power? Normal people don't float unless they're psychic or super-powered like me and Silva."

" ** _My power is not your concern, nor do I wish to share it._** "

"Well, if you won't tell me, then I'll _beat_ the answer out of you!"

" ** _Your persistence is starting to annoy me._** "

In his hands, Infinite produced a red orb of energy that encapsulated the whole area. With it came the same humming noise Sonny heard earlier as he involuntarily levitated off the ground.

"Do you need help, Sonny?" Silva asked as found himself floating as well.

Before Sonny could answer, Infinite rammed into him till he landed on the back of the giant snake from earlier. Following Infinite along the snake's back, Sonny dodged several incoming energy orbs and rows of red blocks that attempted to crush him. Fortunately, he dodged them all before Infinite created several copies of himself midair. Sonny in turn used the Homing Attack to destroy every single copy till he hit the real Infinite.

" ** _Impossible,_** " Infinite murmured. " ** _How can you be this strong?_** "

"I'm not telling unless you share the secret of _your_ power first," Sonny said.

" ** _Over my dead body,_** " Infinite growled and created another orb of red energy around Sonny.

Like what happened before, Sonny was immobilized and got hit by Infinite in the blink of an eye causing him to fall towards the ground face-first.

Chuckling, Infinite remarked, " ** _It seems I had nothing to worry about. You're still weaker than I am, so I'm not going to bother finishing you off._** "

Then as Infinite flew away, Sonny slammed his fist onto the ground. "I've got to find out the secret to his power, if it's the last thing I do!"

To be continued…


	37. Chapter 37: Mysterious Plan

Chapter 37: Mysterious Plan

The following day, Miles and Sonic had reached Green Hill which had been transformed into a semi-arid desert. There, they found Eggman in his hovering Egg Mobile meeting with a masked figure that held a pink gemstone in his hand.

As Sonic and Miles watched from behind a pair of boulders, the masked figure crushed the gemstone and said gleefully, " ** _And with that, all the Phantom Ruby prototypes have been destroyed._** "

Eggman snorted. "It was a defective model, only able to record the DNA of the one who triggered it."

" ** _Correct,_** " the figure said, placing a hand on the pink triangular gemstone attached to his chest. " ** _Only someone with the same level of willpower as I could activate it._** "

"But it doesn't matter, now that the lab's locked down in Mystic Jungle," Eggman frowned. "Speaking of which, did you happen to see Sonny there?"

The figure nodded. " ** _Yes, but he was no match for me._** "

"Did you finish him off?"

" ** _No._** "

"You imbecile!" Eggman snapped. "With Sonny running loose on Mobius, he could ruin my plans for good!"

" ** _I wouldn't be too concerned,_** " the figure assured.

"Sonny is…alive?" Miles muttered, wide-eyed.

Then the figure glanced toward the boulders, forcing Miles and Sonic to duck.

"What is it, Infinite?" Eggman asked.

" ** _Nothing,_** " the figure replied after a pause. " ** _So, we're moving forward with the plan?_** "

"Of course!" Eggman insisted. "Once it's finished, the Resistance will be no more and the world reduced to ashes. From there, I shall create the true Eggman Empire I've always dreamed of without any interruptions whatsoever!"

Silently, the figure known as Infinite levitated into the air and took off. Just then, Sonic emerged from behind the boulders despite Miles' objections and ran toward Eggman. Surprised, Eggman was briefly knocked back before putting up a glass shield over the Egg Mobile.

"Disgusting rodent!" Eggman grumbled. "I don't have time for this!"

As he steered the Egg Mobile toward a set of dry hills, Sonic followed.

###

After Sonic defeated Eggman in his Egg Dragoon, which had been rebuilt since the time he revived Dark Gaia, Miles met up with the two of them using the flying apparatus.

"We did it, Sonic!" Miles said happily and turned to Eggman. "Now tell us where the Phantom Ruby is, Doctor Eggman, or I'll call the Resistance to deal with you as they see fit!"

In response, Eggman laughed.

"What's so funny?" Miles demanded.

"If you think you've got a chance at stopping me, then you're wrong!" Eggman insisted. "In three days, my plan will be set into motion and eliminate anyone who stands in my way including yourselves!"

"Mind telling us what this 'plan' is?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise!" Eggman then set to work on restarting the Egg Mobile, which had crash-landed after Sonic defeated him. "They say the anticipation of the end is worse than the end itself, though maybe not in this case."

Then before Miles or Sonic could stop him, Eggman took off in his Egg Mobile laughing.

###

" _All right, rookie, I've got a tough assignment for you,_ " Chuck said to Ava through the headset. " _While Silva and Sonny are recovering from their battle with 'Infinite,' I need you to enter the city Eggman's currently attacking and rescue the civilians there. You got that?_ "

"Loud and clear," Ava acknowledged and ran along Park Avenue which ran straight through the city taking down Badniks right and left. Meanwhile, Espen's forces fought against the towering robots that rampaged nearby. Amelia encouraged Ava to report on any civilians that hadn't evacuated, which he did, allowing Espen and the others to rescue them once the giant robots had been dealt with.

" _Nice work, kid!_ " Sonny congratulated. " _I knew you could do it._ "

"T-Thanks, Sonny," Ava said shyly.

" _Don't hog all the glory, though, or I won't look good,_ " Victor chimed in.

" _This isn't about you, Victor,_ " Charles interrupted. " _He just showed those Badniks who's boss for crying out loud!_ "

" _Still, it does concern me that there were more of those Death Egg Robots than usual,_ " Silva stated nervously.

"Death Egg Robots?" Ava was confused.

" _The really big ones,_ " Chuck explained.

" _Hey, Chuck,_ " Rouge abruptly said.

" _What is it, Rouge?_ " Silva asked.

" _I'm picking up two life-readings at the lab in Mystic Jungle, where Sonny fought Infinite,_ " replied Rouge.

" _That sounds awfully suspicious,_ " Chuck noted. " _Rookie, head over there and figure out who these readings belong to. It could be a false alarm, but we can't be too sure._ "

Once Chuck's signal died out, Ava left the city while Espen's forces escorted the remaining citizens out.

###

"Now if Eggman said Sonny was in Mystic Jungle, then maybe he's still there," Miles pondered out loud. "We've got to warn him about Eggman's plan, whatever that may be."

Sonic in turn nodded and took off into the casino-filled Mystic Jungle. Sometime later, he came across a young boy standing before a sealed off entrance holding an unusual gem in his hand that seemed to glow with a red light. Recognizing it, Sonic ran over to the boy who was startled.

"It's okay," Miles assured, flying down on his apparatus. "He's a friend."

"Who…are you?" the boy asked nervously.

"My name is Miles Prower, and this is Sonic," Miles said, gesturing to the blue hedgehog. "He's not from around here, you see, but is helping me track down Sonny who's a friend of mine."

"I-I know S-Sonny," the boy responded.

Miles' eyes widened. "Really? Then tell me where he is."

In response, Sonic shook his head and pointed at the gemstone the boy was still carrying.

Seeming to recognize it, Miles asked, "Where did you get that gemstone?"

"O-On the ground," replied the boy.

"May I have a look?"

Reluctantly, the boy gave the pink gemstone to Miles who examined it carefully.

"It looks like the Phantom Ruby from Sonic's world, but its coloring is slightly different. Is this what Infinite was talking about when he mentioned Phantom Ruby 'prototypes'?"

Surprised, the boy asked, "Y-You encountered Infinite?"

"The creepy guy with the mask?" When the boy nodded, Miles said, "Yeah, but I don't think he saw us. How do you know him?"

"He-he killed everyone I loved, but spared me," the boy answered, clenching his fist. "Then I saw him again, right here, beating up Sonny and-and Silva."

Gasping, Miles demanded, "Are they still alive?"

"Yeah, but they're recovering at home-base."

"Home-base? Are you part of the Resistance?"

"Uh-huh. My name is Ava Taren, and I joined the Resistance yesterday."

To be continued…


	38. Chapter 38: Replicas

Chapter 38: Replicas

"Sonny!" Miles cried, running into the underground circular room where Ava had been taken to earlier. "I thought I would never see you again!"

"Oh, you didn't have to worry about me, Miles," Sonny said, hugging his best friend. "I'm perfectly fine."

Espen scuffed. "According to Rouge, you had been captured at Green Hill six months ago and were being tortured for information on the Death Egg until the jailbreak."

"What kind of information was he torturing you for?" Amelia asked anxiously.

Before Sonny answered, he looked in the doorway and noticed Sonic. "Oh, hey, when did you get here?"

Sonic pointed his thumb sideways.

"Yesterday?" Sonny guessed.

In response, Sonic gave him a thumbs-up.

"So what is he?" Charles asked, kneeling down to look at Sonic more closely. "Some kind of mutated hedgehog?"

"He's from the past version of this planet, before Dark Gaia destroyed it," Miles explained. "But anyway, the reason I came here was to tell you that Eggman's cooking up a plan that'll wipe us out in three days' time."

Chuck folded his arms. "Any idea what this plan entails?"

As Miles shrugged, Victor came bursting in through the automatic door forcing Sonic to dash out of the way.

"Hey, guys, I'd hate to interrupt this important meeting but we've got trouble," Victor said, sounding breathless. "Shawn's tearing through our troops in the city, and we need reinforcements right now!"

"Shawn?" Sonny looked confused. "He wouldn't do something like that."

"He disappeared along with Omega when Eggman took over," Chuck claimed. "Rouge said they were looking for the Phantom Ruby to bring you back."

"But I found Omega in Ghost Town," Miles said, causing everyone to look at him. "Only he wasn't moving."

"That's not good," Silva frowned. "I hope Shawn hasn't decided to—

"Switch sides?" Espen interrupted. "He's done that before, like when the Black Arms attacked and he was collecting Chaos Emeralds for their leader."

"But that was against his will," Sonny claimed. "Maybe this is a similar thing."

###

At the city's Sunset Heights area, Sonny ran past several destroyed buildings and roads while small robots and more large ones attacked in the distance.

" _Ugh, more Death Egg Robots? Seriously?_ " Chuck groaned from the headset Sonny had been given. " _How come there are so many?_ "

" _I don't know, but we're having a hard time holding them off,_ " Espen replied.

"I'll be there to help, just as soon as I find Shawn," Sonny said, and ran faster.

Eventually, he found Shawn at the end of the road whose eyes didn't reflect the light from the setting sun sporting black hedgehog ears and a tail.

"Okay, Shawn, what's the deal?" Sonny demanded.

Instead of answering, Shawn leaped forward.

"Chaos Control!"

For a brief second, Shawn froze as an identical one that didn't have hedgehog ears and a tail came flying down and kicked the first Shawn into a nearby wall.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Sonny wondered, rubbing his eyes. "Why are there two Shawns?"

As he spoke, the first Shawn disappeared in the same distorted red light that Zavok vanished in.

"That one was a fake version of me," the second Shawn answered, turning to face Sonny. "Created by Infinite himself."

"Infinite?" Thinking back to the masked figure he fought earlier, Sonny gave Shawn a dubious look. "Have you met him before?"

Reluctantly, Shawn nodded. "I know what he's capable of, so if you need to know more about him I'm the guy to ask."

"How do I know this isn't some kind of trick by Eggman?"

Angered, Shawn grabbed Sonny by the collar of his shirt. "You have _no_ idea what I've been through, while you were galavanting in another dimension."

"I wasn't 'galavanting,'" Sonny insisted. "It just took me a lot longer to get home."

"Then prove it! Where's the Phantom Ruby that you no doubt used to get back here?"

"I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"It got lost while I was traveling between the past and present versions of Mobius."

"Then how are you standing here? Maybe _you're_ a fake version of Sonny that Infinite's created to trick me!"

"If I was, I would've attacked you. And probably had hedgehog ears and a tail, too."

"Hm, good point," Shawn admitted, and let go of Sonny's shirt. "And you wouldn't smell as bad either."

"Hey, I was trapped on the Death Egg for several months!" Sonny defended. "Give me a break!"

###

Once everything had been straightened out with the other Resistance members including Rouge, who was both relieved and angry at Shawn's return, Sonny had the two of them help Espen take down the Death Egg Robots before heading out.

"So what's Infinite's power?" Sonny said, getting Shawn's attention.

"He can create virtual reality projections," Shawn answered. "Like that version of me, they have mass and form but no heart or soul."

"So then the Zak, or Zavok as he kept calling himself, that I fought earlier—

"Was probably fake too," Shawn finished. "But just because they aren't real doesn't mean their powers aren't as strong as the originals."

" _And that's not all,_ " Rouge butted in on Sonny's headset. " _I just hacked into a file regarding Infinite, who can apparently create countless versions of these 'replicas' you boys are talking about._ "

"So no matter how hard we hit him, he'll just make more," Sonny realized.

"Exactly," Shawn nodded. "So it's a no-win situation for us."

"No way!" Sonny objected. "We always find a way to win!"

" _That's the spirit,_ " Chuck said encouragingly. " _And speaking of which, we just received word that Eggman's headquarters in Metropolis is currently undermanned._ "

" _He probably sent his forces elsewhere to enact this 'plan' Miles mentioned_ ," Espen guessed. " _But this could be the only chance we get to take back Metropolis._ "

" _And that's why we're going to focus on a full-frontal assault,_ " Chuck announced. " _Therefore, it shall be called Operation Big Wave!_ "

" _That sounds cool and all, but we need a strategy,_ " Silva butted in.

" _We'll be going in hard and fast without stopping until Eggman's army is destroyed!_ "

" _Did you think of that just now?_ " Amelia said dubiously.

" _Yup!_ "

While an audible groan was heard, Chuck continued, " _Come on, Amelia, we can do this! Sonny and Shawn may not arrive on time, but we've got the strength to win! In fact, there is no finer group that I'd want to fight alongside with!_ "

To be continued…


	39. Chapter 39: Power Struggle

Chapter 39: Power Struggle

In the city of Metropolis which was filled with pristine white buildings and green glass windows, Ava was dropped off along with several other members of the Resistance who met Eggman's Badniks head-on.

" _All right, time for Operation Big Wave!_ " Chuck commanded through Ava's headset. " _Surge forward and sweep the enemy away!_ "

With that, Ava and the others charged using their Wispons against the Badniks. Then Ava used his wire to swing over a wide gap between buildings. Midair, he heard a whooshing sound and looked to his right. It was Infinite, who stared directly at him with his one bright red eye with the yellow iris. Next, Infinite flew slightly ahead of Ava and created a red orb in the palm of his hand. This in turn encapsulated the area around Ava, causing him to float mid-fall.

" _Stay calm, Rookie,_ " Chuck encouraged. " _What you're seeing isn't real._ "

Despite Chuck's words, Ava found himself floating upside down onto the next platform.

" _It's no use! Our troops are scattering!_ " said a voice in his headset.

" _This isn't good!_ " Silva noted. " _We've got to stick together until Sonny and Shawn arrive to help._ "

As Ava tried not to think about the blood rushing to his head, there was flash of red light and he found himself right back up again. Charging forward, Ava attempted to jump to the next building but found himself running sideways.

 _This is getting ridiculous_ , Ava thought irritably. _I wish Infinite would stop hiding like a coward and face me in person!_

While several voices cried out for reinforcements in his headset, Ava managed to run up a building and was flying through the air when Infinite appeared once more. But before Ava could get a clear shot of him, there was another flash of red light and Infinite was gone. Ava was soon falling rapidly toward the ground, but he managed to find a set of rails to grind on just in time.

" _We can't keep going on like this,_ " Chuck muttered.

" _It pains me to say this…but we must retreat for now,_ " Espen encouraged.

" _Agreed,_ " Silva chimed in. " _We'll regroup and plan the next movement._ "

Finding another platform, Ava quickly ran along it to leave the city when he saw Infinite standing near the edge looking down at the fight below.

" ** _So many worthless ants,_** " Infinite muttered to himself. " ** _I wonder if this world can offer me a_** **real** ** _challenge._** "

Though Ava tried his best to sneak past Infinite, he was spotted.

" ** _Ah, a trembling child,_** " Infinite said in a bemused tone. " ** _All alone with no one to help him._** "

Before Ava could get away, Infinite appeared right next to him.

" ** _Are you going to fight me and die here, or run away?_** " Infinite whispered in Ava's ear.

Backing away slowly, Ava considered running. But then he thought about Sonny, and suddenly his fears melted away as he picked up his Wispon.

" ** _Very well,_** " Infinite replied. " ** _I will teach you fear, and then pain!_** "

The two were then transported to an enclosed space where Infinite created several red blocks that formed into solid columns that threatened to crush Ava. Though he managed to dodge them, Infinite didn't seem concerned as the columns of red blocks transformed into cannons that launched giant missiles. These Ava also dodged before shooting bursts of flames directly at Infinite. He cried out in pain, and sent trails of red blocks toward Ava before disappearing. This time, the missiles were replaced by turrets which appeared right-side-up and upside down. On top of that, the columns of red blocks were getting bigger and there were Badniks coming out of the walls as well. Yet despite these things, Ava managed to hold his own against them.

" ** _You've put up quite the fight,_** " Infinite said bemusedly, though he clearly looked exhausted. " ** _It seems the feeble cling to life more_** **desperately** ** _than I thought._** "

After that, Infinite sent several energy orbs at Ava who dodged them with ease. But in the process, the pink gemstone he found near the lab in Mystic Jungle fell out of his pocket and landed right beside him.

" ** _Wait, I remember you,_** " Infinite realized. " ** _You're that child from the town I destroyed_** **.** "

Clenching his hands, he created yet another encapsulating red orb that summoned a row of turrets that floated above his head while Ava quickly put the pink gemstone away.

" ** _I spared your life then because your fear gave me joy,_** " Infinite taunted. " ** _So you ran, and now...you're throwing it all away for some meaningless cause._** "

"It's not meaningless!" Ava snapped. "Sonny and the other Resistance members will stop you, and Doctor Eggman! I believe in them!"

" ** _Such foolish thoughts,_** " Infinite shook his head. " ** _And now it is time to say goodbye._** "

As the turrets launched several missiles, Ava closed his eyes. But a few seconds later, nothing happened. He heard explosions behind him, and looked to see that the missiles had somehow gone past him and exploded harmlessly nearby.

" ** _What?_** " Infinite flinched. " ** _How is this possible?_** ** _It can't be…_** "

Infinite tried to shoot Ava again, but he jumped up. This time, Infinite was waiting for him and hit Ava in the chest with an energy blast that sent him flying down to the floor where he landed on his stomach groaning.

" ** _Well, no matter,_** " Infinite sighed, regaining his calm exterior. " ** _Your friends only have two days left to contemplate their inevitable doom, and then I'll end it once and for all._** "

Then Infinite floated away, leaving Ava to slam his fist on the ground in anger.

###

"So according to Rouge, there should be a database somewhere in Chemical Plant," Miles told Sonic who was running along several pathways while Miles flew above him in his flying apparatus. "With it, we might be able to find out the secret to Infinite's power and be more prepared for the next encounter given that Operation Big Wave didn't go well."

Below, Sonic seemed to nod in response as he pressed forward. But then a few seconds later, the pink substance beneath the pathways seemed to rise with Sonic submerging beneath it.

"Sonic!" Miles cried, searching the liquid's surface for any sign of movement.

Then from a tube emerged Sonic's ball-shaped form as he rolled up and away, causing Miles to smile in relief as he followed Sonic further into the Plant.

To be continued…


	40. Chapter 40: Confidence Boost

Chapter 40: Confidence Boost

After finding a computer, Miles retracted the flying apparatus and stretched his fingers. "Okay, Sonic, watch my back while I access the data from this computer."

In response, Sonic nodded and turned away with his arms folded.

"Failed battle plans…old robot designs…wow, Eggman's got a lot of selfies," Miles muttered. "So where does he keep the—aha! 'Virtual Reality Weapon: The Phantom Ruby'!"

Hearing that, Sonic turned around and looked at the computer screen which showed an image of the Phantom Ruby next to Infinite's outline.

"'A weapon that takes control of people's visual and depth perception to feed false information to the brain, creating a new reality for them.' Wow, this is crazy!"

Typing a few more buttons, the screen showed security footage of a lab filled with tubes containing smaller gemstones that were similar to the one on Infinite's chest.

"It seems Eggman experimented on artificial Phantom Rubies, aka 'prototypes' before integrating the final version onto Infinite."

The last security image showed Infinite inside a tube with the triangular pink gemstone glowing.

"So if I'm reading this data correctly, there should be a weakness." Then Miles took out a flash-drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer. "But first, let's get this information back to the others."

###

" _Guys, I know this is bad timing…but Metal Sonny's been spotted in the city, I think,_ " Amelia said while Ava and the other remaining Resistance members retreated from Metropolis after Sonny and Shawn had arrived to get them out.

" _What do you mean?_ " Chuck asked.

" _Well, the reports say it's a round metal object, with animal-like ears,_ " Amelia replied.

"Sounds like another one of Infinite's replicas," Shawn guessed.

Sonny gave Shawn a dubious look. "But why make a fake version of a robot? Couldn't Eggman just simply rebuild him? He's done that before."

"Why waste the resources to create a model that's been destroyed multiple times when you could just create a false image that can't be destroyed?" Shawn pointed out.

"Well, either way, this pile of junk's going to the trash-heap," Sonny said confidently, putting a hand on Ava's shoulder. "Kid, you're coming with me!"

"O-Okay," Ava mumbled, lowering his head.

Noticing this, Sonny looked at Ava with concern. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"It's just…I stood no chance against Infinite," Ava clenched his fist. "He was just toying with me, like I meant nothing to him!"

"Hey, no point in beating yourself up about it," Sonny encouraged. "Heroes don't always win every battle, but it's their ability to get back up and fight on that matters!"

"Still, if the kid doesn't feel confident enough to take on Metal Sonny, or whatever it is, maybe I should go instead," Shawn offered.

" _Shawn has a good point,_ " Victor noted. " _We've lost too many with this failed operation, and we can't afford to lose more._ "

"It's not a problem," Ava insisted. "As long as I'm with Sonny, I-I'll be fine."

"Now that's what I want to hear!" Sonny smiled, patting Ava on the back. "Plus, it'll be a great way to kill time before Miles and Sonic get back from Chemical Plant."

###

At the Red Gate Bridge, Sonny and Ava ran alongside one another when a Death Egg Robot suddenly came up from the ground and tore the bridge in half. Fortunately, Ava was able to grab Sonny and use his grappling wire to swing them to a nearby ledge on a cliff.

"Whew! That was a close one," Sonny remarked.

Just then, the robot stared right at them forcing Sonny to use his Homing Attack on it. This sent him flying into the air, but Ava managed to catch him after grappling onto the side of the robot's head and swinging around it.

"Nice job, kid," Sonny complemented. "Now let's put this thing to bed!"

As the two performed the Double Boost, they rammed straight through the robot's enormous eye causing it to fall over. Then they wound up in an underground tunnel, which led onto another bridge where Metal Sonny appeared right in front of them. Only this version was indeed rounder than usual, with hedgehog ears instead of human ones.

"So this is thanks to Infinite's power too, huh?" Sonny sighed. "What a pain in the neck!"

As Metal Sonny flew away, the real Sonny and Ava pursued him. Then up further along the bridge, Metal Sonny created orbs made from red blocks that shot purple lasers from them. Dodging them, Ava and Sonny targeted Metal Sonny with the Double Boost causing him to fall backward. Unfortunately, he didn't fall as a swirl of purple energy surrounded him followed by his chest lighting up. Dragging Ava away, Sonny and he managed to dodge the laser blast that came from Metal Sonny's chest which flew all the way past them. After that, they used the Double Boost once more which sent Metal Sonny flying back so far that he landed on the pavement up ahead and tripped over himself before dissipating into red cubes.

"All right!" Sonny cried. "We did it!"

After catching his breath, Ava stood up and gave Sonny a fist-bump.

###

" _I've got it, Sonny!_ " Miles said through Sonny's headset. " _I figured out Infinite's power-source and how to defeat him!_ "

"Great job, Miles!" Sonny said. "So what's the scoop?"

" _You know that pink triangular gemstone on Infinite's chest? It's an artificial version of the Phantom Ruby Eggman stole from Sonic's time,_ " Miles explained. " _It requires a lot of energy to function properly, which can only be provided by the Death Egg. So all we have to do is stop the energy transfer, and it'll be rendered useless!_ "

" _Are you kidding me?_ " Chuck exclaimed." _The Death Egg's too well-fortified to get into!_ "

"But…I got in," Ava sputtered.

" _That was one time, though,_ " Chuck reminded him. " _They've probably doubled their security since then._ "

" _That's what I thought too, so I came up with a plan,_ " Miles interrupted. " _First, we distract Eggman. Then while he's not paying attention, we use the Chemical Plant computer to hack into the Death Egg's weapons systems and shut it down._ "

" _Hmm, you know, that just might work!_ " Chuck complemented.

To be continued…


	41. Chapter 41: Upper Hand

Chapter 41: Upper Hand

" _So, Rookie, we've decided that you're going to be the one to distract Eggman while we work on shutting down the Death Egg's weapons systems,_ " Chuck explained to Ava who was on his way towards Green Hill. " _Think you can handle it?_ "

"I-I think so," Ava replied nervously.

" _Good, now keep an eye out for him,_ " Chuck advised. " _You never know what that madman's—_

" _Unidentified heat source detected!_ " cried another voice in Ava's headset.

Then Ava looked to his right and saw a gigantic machine that was rampaging through the Green Hill area, though it didn't resemble a Death Egg Robot.

While Ava ran across a wooden bridge that came dangerously close to it, Amelia said, " _I've got it! It's a multi-legged battlemech!_ "

" _Who knew Eggman had one of those up his sleeve,_ " Victor grumbled. " _Watch its feet, kid!_ "

As if on queue, the machine's spiked feet came down and blocked Ava's path. Using the grappling wire, Ava was able to swing past them and keep going.

" _Now there's no need to be sneaky,_ " Silva reminded Ava. " _Make as much noise as you can!_ "

"Gotcha," Ava acknowledged as used his Wispon to destroy several Badniks along the way.

Unfortunately, the battlemech spotted him and came charging through the hills in Ava's direction.

" _We can't let that thing get near Chemical Plant,_ " Chuck said. " _Keep it busy for as long as possible, Rookie!_ "

Not saying anything, Ava just kept running. Then he remembered what Infinite said to him during their confrontation, and felt terrible. So he used his grappling wire to swing onto one of the battlemech's legs and launched himself into the air. As the line extended, it wrapped itself completely around every single leg the battlemech had. Unable to move forward, the battlemech tripped over itself while Ava got away by swinging onto a nearby cliff. Then from there, he left the Green Hill area as the battlemech crashed into the very cliff he was on not too long ago.

###

"I'm almost at Chemical Plant," Sonny said into his headset. "How's the kid doing?"

" _Pretty good so far,_ " Chuck replied. " _I might actually start calling him by his real name if this keeps up._ "

"Okay, so may I do the honors of shredding this place up?" Sonny asked.

" _Be my guest!_ "

So without further hesitation, Sonny charged forward grinding on rails and bashing Badniks right and left before entering a long tube with rotating lasers inside.

Once he reached the bottom of the tube, Sonny told Chuck, "Now I'm inside. Where do I go from here?"

" _According to the layout Miles downloaded, there's a computer room up ahead,_ " Chuck stated.

"And I should be able to shut down the Death Egg's defense system from there, right?"

" _Yep! Should be smooth sailing from here on out!_ "

"If you say so!"

Making his way through an area where pink chemicals were pouring down like sticky waterfalls, Sonny encountered more Badniks before coming across a giant door with a circuit-board like design on it.

"This looks like the computer room to me," Sonny observed, and went inside.

###

" _Guys, you did it!_ " Rouge exclaimed. " _The Death Egg's weapons are down! Now's your chance to move in!_ "

" _You make it sound like a walk in the park,_ " Victor chimed in. " _It's still the Death Egg._ "

" _Yeah, but Sonic's got this under control!_ " Miles claimed.

While Sonic listened to this on the headset he was given that was smaller than the one Sonny had, he shook his head and decided to head onboard the Death Egg using a shuttle launching from Chemical Plant. Once onboard, Sonic found himself in a long corridor with lasers shooting at him.

" _What the heck?_ " Chuck wondered. " _Why are the defense systems back up when I'm pretty sure Sonny shut them down with Miles' help!_ "

" _They must've switched to auxiliary power,_ " Miles realized. " _But don't worry, Sonic will find a way in._ "

###

A few minutes later, the Death Egg exploded. From a satellite footage feed on display in the circular base, everyone cheered including Rouge who had escaped the Death Egg earlier along with Sonic.

"Great work, guys!" Amelia congratulated. "With the Phantom Ruby prototype out of commission, we'll defeat Eggman in no time!"

"Yeah, we should settle the score while we've got the upper hand!" Silva agreed.

"Especially since Infinite has no doubt been weakened by this, and we have less than a day to stop Eggman's 'plan' from going into effect," Shawn pointed out.

"Now hold your horses, boys," Rouge interceded. "We still don't know where the Doctor is keeping the real Phantom Ruby, since I couldn't find it anywhere on the Death Egg."

"Then he must have it on him," Miles guessed. "And it's the only thing that can bring Sonic back to his time."

"Plus with Eggman and Infinite still out there, we shouldn't let our guard down," Sonny responded urgently.

Sonic and Ava nodded in agreement.

Getting his fists pumped, Chuck stated, "All right, time to bring our A-game to Eggman at his Central Tower in Metropolis! Now who's with me?"

In response, everyone put their hands in the center and raised them into the air with a big holler.

###

While the Resistance was busy attacking the Badniks scattered throughout Metropolis, Miles flew Sonny up to the Central Tower where they met Eggman in person.

"Hello, Sonny," Eggman said snidely. "Glad you could make it to your funeral."

Sonny gave Eggman a dubious look. "Come again?"

"Now, Infinite!" Eggman commanded.

From the sky, Infinite floated down and outstretched his hand. From it, a purple energy orb emerged and grew bigger.

"What is that?" Sonny wondered.

"Null Space," Eggman replied. "It's a 'pocket-dimension' of sorts where nothing exists, created by the Phantom Ruby prototype's own power!"

Then Infinite sent a red energy blast into the orb, causing it to grow even larger. This caused every object nearby to be drawn towards it, including Sonny. But then just as he started to lose his steady footing, Ava came swinging in and grabbed his hand.

"No, let go of me!" Sonny insisted. "If you hold on, you'll get sucked in too!"

"I'm not…letting go…of my friend!" Ava insisted, and attempted to retract the wire.

However, the wire suddenly broke causing both Ava and Sonny to get sucked into the purple orb before it disappeared altogether.

To be continued…


	42. Chapter 42: Null Space

Chapter 42: Null Space

"How can this be?" Miles muttered, after being knocked to the ground due to the shockwave that followed the purple orb's disappearance along with Sonny and Ava. "I thought destroying the Death Egg would render the Phantom Ruby prototype useless."

"Well, since you were always on step ahead of me in terms of wrecking _my_ plans I decided to plan _two_ steps ahead this time," Eggman grinned.

"So what did you do?" Miles asked.

Chuckling, Eggman stroked his mustache. "Simple! I had a backup power-source built underneath Metropolis."

###

Elsewhere, Ava and Sonny found themselves in a void where their images were partially distorted and there were purple blocks floating everywhere creating the platform they were currently standing on.

"Man, there's a whole lot of nothing," Sonny observed.

"We're trapped in here," Ava realized. "And it's all my fault."

"Don't say that," Sonny said. "You were only doing what you thought was right."

"And look where it got us!" Ava snapped. "Maybe Infinite was right. I should've run and never shown my face again."

Taking the pink gemstone from his pocket, Ava attempted to throw it into the purple void but Sonny caught it in less than a second.

"Hold up!" Sonny looked at the gemstone carefully, his eyes widening. "Is this the Phantom Ruby I lost?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Ava responded. "It fell out of Infinite's jacket when you clashed with him in Mystic Jungle. Miles thinks it's another Phantom Ruby prototype based on his initial analysis, but he didn't have time to do proper tests."

"Has anything unusual happened in your presence so far?"

Ava thought for a moment and then snapped his finger. "Now that you mention it, when I confronted Infinite not too long ago he used his reality-distorting powers to summon several turrets that shot missiles at me. But instead of hitting me, the missiles flew behind me and exploded elsewhere."

"That's weird," Sonny noted.

"Yeah," Ava nodded. "Though while I was escorting Miles and Sonic back to the base from Mystic Jungle, he told me he'd overheard Eggman talking to Infinite near Green Hill. Apparently, Eggman had ordered Infinite to destroy several other Phantom Ruby prototypes that were inside the lab in Mystic Jungle because they were 'defective.'"

"Defective?"

"Basically, they only worked for the individual who triggered them to work in the first place," Ava explained.

"But they don't work for everyone," Sonny claimed, making Ava flinch. "Based on my personal experience, the Phantom Ruby resonates with those who have incredibly strong willpower. So the prototypes must work under the same principal, hence why Infinite's able to use his."

"Then that must mean—

Before Ava could finish his sentence, Sonny tossed the pink gemstone back towards him forcing him to catch it midair. "Let's put this thing to the test."

"How?" Ava asked.

"We'll use it to get out of here," Sonny explained. "With our Double Boost and your willpower, we could exit the Null Space and get back to Metropolis to finish what should've ended a long time ago!"

Looking down at the gemstone, which glowed in his hand, Ava gripped it tightly and nodded.

###

A few seconds later, Ava and Sonny emerged from a purple orb that was similar to the one activated by Infinite and found themselves falling towards some rails that ran alongside the skyscrapers of Metropolis.

"Hey, everyone!" Sonny announced on his headset. "Did you miss us?"

" _Where've you guys been?_ " Chuck demanded. " _Miles said Infinite sucked you and the Rookie into a black-hole or something._ "

"More or less," Sonny replied. "But we're back now, and ready to kick robot butt!"

" _Good, though we've got Eggman's bots on the ropes so far,_ " Amelia responded. " _If we keep this up, we'll probably win for sure!_ "

" _You'd better hurry up, Sonny, or you'll miss all the fun,_ " Rouge chimed in.

"Say no more!" Sonny turned to Ava. "You ready for this?"

"Heck yeah!" Ava smiled.

The two continued grinding on the rails till they once again reached the top of the Central Tower were Eggman and Infinite were watching the battle below.

"Hey, guys," Sonny said, getting their attention. "Ready for Round Two?"

"What?" Eggman exclaimed. "How did you get out of the Null Space? That's impossible!"

"Let's just say I had some help from a friend," Sonny replied, looking over to Ava. "Which is something you'll never understand since you don't have friends!"

Growling, Eggman sputtered. "This changes nothing!"

Then Eggman flew off in his Egg Mobile while Infinite reluctantly followed behind.

" _Okay, team, we only have a few hours left before Eggman's 'plan' is set into motion,_ " Chuck announced through Sonny and Ava's headsets.

" _Therefore, we need to attack the Eggman Empire Fortress now,_ " Shawn claimed.

" _Right, and once we've defeated Eggman we'll take the real Phantom Ruby from him so he's completely at our mercy!_ " Silva proclaimed.

" _And then we'll send Sonic back to his time,_ " Miles added, though he sounded sad.

" _But before any of that happens, there's a battle to be won,_ " Espen reminded them.

" _Exactly,_ " Chuck agreed. " _Now let's give it everything we've got!_ "

"Right on!" Sonny acknowledged.

"Let's do this!" Ava added.

###

On a barren volcanic wasteland that stood before the Imperial Tower of Eggman's Fortress, the entire Resistance group clashed with several replicas of Zavok, Chaos, Shawn, and Metal Sonny. While Chuck was punching them with his bare fists, the real Shawn warped around and kicked several of them in the face. As for Silva, he used his telekinetic powers to freeze some of the replicas in place allowing Victor Espen and Charles to beat them. Amelia swung the Piko Hammer at the ones in front of her, and Rouge threw bombs down from above as she glided on artificial bat wings. Breaking through the lines, Sonny ran ahead and stopped a few feet from Infinite who hovered above the ground.

"All right, Infinite, you and Eggman's reign of terror ends now!" Sonny declared.

" ** _Indeed,_** " Infinite nodded. " ** _I've been looking forward to finishing off_** **all** ** _of you!_** "

As Sonny and his friends, including Sonic and Ava, charged at Infinite he merely cupped his hands creating a red energy blast that sent them all flying backward.

To be continued…


	43. Chapter 43: Fear and Courage

Chapter 43: Fear and Courage

While Sonny and his friends were recovering from the blast, Infinite folded his arms. " ** _Just accept your fate. The oblivion awaits you with open arms._** "

Before he could send another blast, green lasers came out of nowhere causing Infinite to move out of their way. Then down from the skies flew E-123 Omega, whose robotic eyes were lit up.

"Omega!" Rouge exclaimed. "You're alive!"

" _Indeed I am,_ " Omega replied, reloading his arm cannons. " _Miles was kind enough to repair my systems before leaving Ghost Town, allowing me to arrive here and aid in your battle against the threat known as Infinite._ "

" ** _Ugh,_** " Infinite groaned. " ** _Why do you pests seem to multiply? Your resistance will_** **burn** ** _, and I'll make sure of that!_** "

Then from his hands, Infinite shot a beam of light into the air which became a giant burning sphere that seemed to be coming closer.

"What? No way!" Chuck exclaimed. "Is that the sun?"

"No, but a close replica of it," Miles explained. "However, since we've been under the Phantom Ruby prototype's influence for so long…it might as well be the real thing."

"So how are we supposed to combat something like that?" Espen asked. "No matter how many times I deny it—

"The fear of the dreaded object overwhelms you," Eggman finished, appearing in his Egg Mobile. "And that's why _I_ win and you guys _lose_!"

Meanwhile, Ava was frozen stiff when he felt the pink gemstone vibrating in his pocket. Taking it out, Ava looked down and noticed its glow was brighter than before.

"Hey, isn't that the gem you found by the lab in Mystic Jungle?" Miles said, walking over to Ava. "The one I thought might be a Phantom Ruby prototype?"

"Yeah," Ava nodded. "Sonny and I used it to get out of the Null Space Infinite banished us to."

"Really?" Taking the gem from Ava's hands, Miles looked at it more carefully than before. "Then it's got to be a prototype, and it might be resonating to your inner courage."

Flinching, Ava turned away, "But if I were brave, then why am I afraid?"

"Bravery and fear are two sides of the same coin," Miles claimed. "You have to be afraid of something first before taking it on in a reactionary act of bravery. So push through the fear and use the confidence that follows to make the fake sun go away."

"How can you ask me to do something like that?" Ava looked up at the fake sun once more, but had to look away because of the blinding light. "I can't do it!"

"Sure you can!" Miles encouraged, squeezing Ava's shoulder. "If Sonny believed in you, then so will I!"

Looking past Miles, the other Resistance members turned to him expectedly including Sonny who gave him a thumbs-up.

So gripping the Phantom Ruby prototype tightly, Ava used the grappling wire to hook onto the side of Eggman's Egg Mobile which gave him enough projection to swing over the remaining replicas and close to the walls of the Imperial Tower. From there, he swung up and around the platforms that rounded the circumference of the tower taking out Badniks as he went.

" _Keep it up, Rookie!_ " Chuck encouraged though Ava's headset. " _We're counting on you!_ "

" _I'm sorry for doubting you before, kid,_ " Victor apologized. " _If we make it out of this alive, I'm gonna give you a big hug as a sign of my gratitude!_ "

" _Knock it off, Victor!_ " Charles complained. " _You're breaking his concentration!_ "

" _Agreed,_ " Espen said.

" _Just do your best!_ " Silva butted in. " _You're almost there!_ "

" _And…come back safely, okay?_ " Amelia added with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Sure thing, Amelia," Ava nodded and grappled his way up to the top of the tower.

There, Ava took out the Phantom Ruby prototype and stared up at the sun where Infinite's silhouette could be seen.

" ** _Just give it up,_** " Infinite sighed, floating up into the sun. " ** _That puny rock you're holding will do nothing to stop the end from coming!_** "

"Not if I can help it," Ava muttered, and leaped upward.

###

As Eggman and the entire Resistance watched, the sun briefly grew a little brighter before vanishing altogether as a streak of purple fell from the sky.

"All right!" Chuck cried. "The fake sun is gone!"

While everyone cheered, Miles flew up to the top of the Imperial Tower where he found a collapsed Ava gripping small fragments of the Phantom Ruby prototype.

"Where on Mobius did you get that?" Eggman demanded, gripping the sides of his head. "Infinite assured me that _all_ the Phantom Ruby prototypes had been destroyed!"

"A minor oversight on your part," Miles claimed, landing next to Ava and helping him up. " _I_ at least bothered to check twice, as a good scientist should."

In the time it took Miles to fly away, Chuck had managed to rally the Resistance to continue their assault on Imperial Tower. Sonny, like before, managed to get ahead of everyone else and had already reached the base of the tower where Infinite was waiting for him.

"I thought you vanished with the sun," Sonny said, halting at the edge of the platform he was on.

" ** _It was nothing more than a false hope,_** " Infinite replied. " ** _Though my prototype may have been weakened by the sudden burst of willpower from that foolish child, I'm still able to crush you into nothing!_** "

"Is that so? Mind if I prove you wrong?"

" ** _Don't make me laugh! We both know that your powers are_** **insignificant** ** _compared to mine!_** "

"Bring it on, masked creep!"

Jumping over the gap, Sonny attempted to tackle Infinite midair but he disappeared and reappeared on the next platform. So Sonny was forced to roll himself into a ball to gain more momentum which allowed him to reach the other side in one piece.

" ** _Now what shall I write on your tombstone?_** " Infinite mused as he flew backwards and summoned several windmill-shaped blades made from red blocks to obstruct Sonny's path. " ** _How about, 'Here lies the blue-haired moron'?_** "

As Sonny dodged the windmill blades with ease, he smirked. "Not bad, but I've got a better one: 'Here lies the masked clown'!"

Growling, Infinite surrounded himself with floating orbs as Sonny closed in.

To be continued…


	44. Chapter 44: Ultimatum

Chapter 44: Ultimatum

Though Sonny managed to destroy Infinite's floating orbs and hit him a few times, Infinite merely floated back as the gemstone on his chest started glowing.

" ** _You're done for, Sonny!_** " Infinite gloated. " ** _Thanks to the extra time our battle has bought, my Phantom Ruby prototype is now fully recharged!_** "

Before Infinite could attack, though, Ava came swinging downward landing next to Sonny.

"Not yet, Infinite," Sonny said, turning to Ava. "With my friend beside me, we'll both put you in your place!"

" ** _Friends? Hah!_** " Infinite made a sharp laugh and floated further downward. " ** _They are nothing more than fleeting faces that come and go like the passage of time!_** "

"Not the way I've experienced it," Sonny claimed as he and Ava ran to catch up to Infinite while passing through sets of windmill-shaped blades along the way. "You must be pretty lonely to say stuff like that."

" ** _And what's wrong with being alone?_** " Infinite objected. " ** _You can only count on yourself to do things right, instead of relying on others!_** "

"But friends aren't tools!" Ava retorted, causing both Sonny and Infinite to look at him. "They treat each other with equal respect, out of a mutual belief in the other's own abilities, in the hopes that they'll accomplish their goals together!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, kid!" Sonny approved. "Now let's use the Double Boost to show this guy what friendship can really do!"

Nodding in agreement, Ava curled up into a ball along with Sonny. Then together, they both managed to catch up to Infinite and ram him in the chest so hard that he fell onto his back. As Ava and Sonny approached Infinite, he seemed to be partially fading.

" ** _No, I cannot be defeated,_** " Infinite muttered, putting a hand over his mask. " ** _Not by the likes of you two!_** "

"Well, you just were," Sonny corrected, fist-bumping Ava. "And we did it together."

Unable to say anything, Infinite flew away. Then Eggman came floating down in his Egg Mobile, though he seemed to be grinning.

"I never thought Infinite would lose, but this isn't over yet!" Eggman proclaimed. "The time has come to finally enact my ultimate plan, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Wait, what?" Sonny attempted to Spin Dash into Eggman as he flew off, but ended up falling off the side of the platform instead. Fortunately, Ava managed to use his grappling wire to reel him back up. "I thought roasting us alive with that fake sun _was_ the plan."

" _It seems that's not the case,_ " Miles said through Ava's headset which Sonny listened in on. " _Both the real Phantom Ruby and the fake one's energy signals have moved underground, meaning Eggman's planning something else that I haven't the faintest notion of._ "

"Then what are we going to do?" Ava asked. "We can't just stand here and do nothing."

###

Listening to this conversation on his headset, Sonic frowned and decided to head towards the central part of Eggman's Fortress on his own. Avoiding electric fields and heat-seeking missiles, the blue hedgehog found his way into a large cylindrical building. Meanwhile, Sonny and Ava entered the cylindrical building as well but from the top instead of the side.

" _It seems the Phantom Rubies are moving into the Reactor's core,_ " Miles said through their headsets. " _We've gotta hurry before Eggman does who knows what with them!_ "

" _But the Reactor is in the innermost part of the Fortress,_ " Amelia reminded. " _It can't be accessed through normal means._ "

"Then it's a good thing my friend and I aren't normal," Sonny claimed, nodding to Ava. "Now where's Sonic?"

" _I think he's entered the Reactor as well, but I'm not sure since he didn't say anything,_ " replied Miles.

"Well, keep an eye out in case we don't run into him here," Sonny said.

Up ahead, rolling saw-blades blocked their path as well as laser-shooting drones. Fortunately, Sonny and Ava dodge them easily.

" _Also, based on the footage I got from the Mystic Jungle lab computer, this is the place where Eggman created Infinite,_ " Miles added.

" _Such a cold and lifeless-looking place to be brought into the world in_ ," Amelia remarked.

Eventually, Sonny and Ava found themselves in a large room with hexagonal shapes hovering around a glowing white double-helix that had a circular platform surrounding it containing three tubes containing gemstones resembling the Phantom Ruby that were guarded by more robots with lasers.

"All right, we finally made it to the core," Sonny proclaimed, getting the robots' attention. "Now let's blow this place up!"

While Sonny kept the robots busy, Ava rammed into the tubes when the electrical shielding around them paused. They shattered upon impact, causing some of the hexagonal shapes to explode revealing the double-helix inside. Once all three tubes were destroyed, the double-helix glowed so brightly that the entire structure began to rumble with fires erupting everywhere.

"We've gotta get out of here," Sonny realized. "Let's use the Double Boost!"

"Right!" Ava agreed.

###

At the top of the cylindrical building, Sonny and Ava met up with Sonic, who had been flown up by Miles in his flying apparatus.

"All right, that should put a stop to Eggman's plans for good," Sonny smirked.

While Sonic gave Sonny a thumbs-up, the ground suddenly shook.

"Aw, now what?" Looking behind, Sonny and the others beheld a giant multi-armed Death Egg Robot that was black with red lights.

In its visible cockpit sat Eggman, who was laughing maniacally. "Ignorant fools! Those Phantom Rubies you destroyed in the Reactor's core were merely decoys!"

"Then where did you—

" _Sonny, I'm getting several confirmed sightings of Zavok, Metal Sonny, Shawn, Chaos,_ and _Infinite!_ " Amelia exclaimed through Sonny's headset.

"How many are there?" Sonny asked.

" _Thousands at least!_ " Amelia replied. " _I'm not sure if we have the strength to take them on!_ "

Just then, Amelia's signal died out causing Sonny to glare up at Eggman. "What have you done this time, Eggman?"

"I merely incorporated the real Phantom Ruby to this Death Egg Robot, and used it to create more replicas," Eggman explained.

"But I thought only the fake Phantom Ruby could do that," Miles said.

"Well, you thought wrong, Miles," Eggman corrected. "Infinite's Phantom Ruby prototype has the exact same powers as the original, only they're not nearly as powerful. But now I've surpassed him and become the ultimate form!"

"He's right!" Miles realized. "Since the Phantom Ruby has the power to significantly upgrade robots with near limitless power, there's no way we can stop him!"

"No way! We'll take Eggman down no matter what!" Sonny declared.

To be continued…


	45. Chapter 45: The Power of Three

Chapter 45: The Power of Three

As the new Death Egg Robot rose higher with its serpentine body, Sonny Sonic and Ava attacked it from different directions with Miles surveying the situation from above. Leaping onto some neon purple platforms, Sonic became the target for several projectiles thrown by the Death Egg which he kicked back with ease. While they were hitting the Death Egg Robot's cockpit, Ava was shooting at its mid-drift with his Wispon. Angered, Eggman commanded the robot to shoot several missiles at Ava but he avoided them easily. Then Eggman resorted to using the robot's multiple arms to crush the boy, but Ava instead used his Wire Attack to target each arm that came down. Meanwhile, several Badniks started appearing making Ava nervous.

But Sonny took care of them, allowing Ava to continue attacking the arms. Then one of the arms came down harder than usual and destroyed a fragment of the hexagonal platform Ava and Sonny were standing on. Fortunately, neither one was near the area that fell so they continued fighting. But then Eggman activated the Death Egg Robot's head laser, which he used against Sonic earlier, and destroyed more areas of the platform with it.

"Wow, Eggman sure is stubborn," Ava remarked.

"You have _no_ idea," Sonny stated, and kept attacking more incoming Badniks.

Then once the final arm was destroyed, the Death Egg Robot was thrown backward. Though its multiple arms still moved, the main body had slumped over. Electric sparks flew from the cracked cockpit window Sonic had destroyed with the projectiles, and then the multiple arms slumped down.

"Looks like the new Death Egg Robot wasn't as powerful as it looked," Sonny joked, fist-bumping Ava.

" _I wouldn't celebrate just yet,_ " Miles warned. " _Something about this doesn't seem right._ "

Just then, the glass cockpit shattered and a much smaller mech emerged from it. White in color with multiple arms, it hovered midair as red squares encompassed the entire area turning everything black except for the platform Sonny and Ava stood on which was now neon purple.

"Oh, great, we're in the Null Space again," Sonny frowned and looked ahead where the white mech was preparing to shoot a laser from one of its arms.

Fortunately, Ava and Sonny dodged it before running after the mech with Sonic following alongside them.

"Hey, where did you come from?" Ava asked.

Sonic thumbed to the side where the neon platforms he was on not too long ago were starting to disintegrate. Then Sonic flinched and jumped up, causing Ava and Sonny to do the same as the mech fired a second laser from another arm. As the purple blocks vanished beneath them, the three picked up their speed until they were face-to-face with the mech itself. Up close, the thing had two smaller heads on either side of its big clamp-like head while its laser-spewing arms moved around like tentacles. As each arm looped over the next, the boys and hedgehog leaped up together. Then before the next cycle could begin, Sonic Spin-Dashed into the smaller head on the right side while Ava took the left one and Sonny hit the middle one right in its forehead gem.

This sent the mech flying backwards causing it shoot flames from its three mouths toward Sonny and the others in particular patterns. Fortunately, they steered clear of the flames and continued onward while also dodging sudden rises in the road caused by the mech as well. Then after a few more Spin-Dashes, the mech moved back once more and shot missiles from its arms instead of lasers. These the three dodged too, and then when the lasers came back they found themselves crisscrossing over each other.

"Jeez, I hope the battle's going to end soon," Ava said breathlessly.

"Yeah, this is starting to get ridiculous," Sonny agreed. "Even by Eggman's standards."

While Sonic didn't say anything, the three resumed their attack on the mech.

"Wait, I know how we can end this battle!" Ava exclaimed, getting Sonny and Sonic's attention as they were once again chasing the mech down the road of purple blocks.

"What is it?" Sonny asked anxiously.

"Let's use the Double Boost Attack, but include Sonic," Ava stated. "Thus making it a…Triple Boost Attack!"

"See? Told you you'd get better at naming attacks," Sonny approved. "Let's do it!"

Sonic nodded in agreement and so the three leaped up into the air. Upon reaching the white mech, they started to spin into a spiral that grew tighter the closer they got.

"With the three of us combined, there's nothing we can't do!" Sonny declared, leading the charge. "Triple…Boost!"

With one final flash, the three burst right through the white mech causing it to explode into several fragments followed by a blinding light.

###

Back in the real world, all the Zavoks Metal Sonnys Shawns Chaos' and Infinites that the Resistance were hopelessly trying to attack suddenly vanished in a flickering of red lights that disappeared with the sun as it was starting to peak through the volcanic clouds.

After a pause, Chuck realized, "We-We won! We've actually won the battle _and_ the war!"

Hearing that, the Resistance members cheered loudly. While the Chaotix Detectives and Shadow nodded in agreement, Silva hovered midair while Amelia watched.

"Guess we had nothing to worry about," Rouge remarked. "But where on Mobius is Sonny?"

" _I'm detecting three persons and a hedgehog atop a platform somewhere within the fortress,_ " Omega announced.

"That must be them," Amelia realized. "Come on, guys, let's go and congratulate them!"

With that said, Chuck glided into the Fortress while Rouge Silva and Omega flew alongside him. The Chaotix Detectives and Amelia found their own way in while Shawn used Chaos Control to get there before everyone else. They found Miles talking to Sonic while Sonny and Ava stood nearby, though he seemed upset.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Miles said, shaking Sonic's hand. "Hope you make it home safely, and say, 'Hi' to Tails for me, okay?"

Holding the Phantom Ruby in his other hand, which he grabbed during the Triple Boost Attack, Sonic nodded and briefly glanced over Miles' shoulder. Sonny gave him a thumbs-up back while the other Resistance members waved. Then Sonic concentrated on the Phantom Ruby, which encased him in a bright magenta-colored light before he disappeared.

To be continued…


	46. Chapter 46: Resolution

**This will be the last chapter of this series, followed by an epilogue that'll continue my version of the** ** _Episode Shadow_** **DLC which begins toward the end of this chapter. Hope you guys have enjoyed this sequel series and be sure to check out my other fanfics!**

Chapter 46: Resolution

Sighing, Miles lowered his head. But when he looked down, he noticed an identical Phantom Ruby in his hands.

"Look, Sonny!" Miles exclaimed. "It's the Phantom Ruby you lost!"

"Really?" Sonny walked up to Miles and looked down at the gemstone-in-question. "How can you tell?"

"It literally just appeared in my hands," Miles applied. "So what else could it possibly be?"

"But why didn't it appear sooner?" Shawn asked.

"My guess is that the two Phantom Rubies can't exist simultaneously, since they're both from different timelines," Miles guessed. "Plus, given how powerful they are, I would imagine something terrible might happen if they existed together."

"Like what?" Silva wondered.

"I'm not sure," Miles shook his head, examining the Phantom Ruby closely. "I'll need to do some tests on this to be sure of my theory."

"In the meantime, though, we should clean up the mess Eggman left behind," Sonny suggested. "It'll be a big undertaking, but with our teamwork we should be able to accomplish it in no time!"

In response, everyone unanimously hollered including Ava and Miles.

###

Sometime later, everyone was hanging out in the circular control-room of the Resistance Base when Ava came in wearing the green army jacket ripped jeans and army boots he wore upon first being recruited. While he still had the headset and the grappling wire bracelet, he now carried a small pack over his shoulder.

"What's up, Rookie?" Chuck said. "Are you heading off somewhere?"

In response, Ava nodded.

"But we could really use your help in rebuilding the world after Eggman wrecked it," Silva mentioned, getting off the boxes he was sitting on. "What could be more important than that?"

"Well...I have this nagging feeling that Infinite isn't completely gone," Ava explained, gripping the strap of his pack tightly. "And so I'm going to find him."

Chuck gave Ava a sideways look before shrugging. "Okay, then. If that's what you wanna do, I'm not gonna stop you. After all, you're not a Rookie anymore."

"Before you go, here's the hug I promised," Victor abruptly said, hugging Ava tightly. "Now take care of yourself, and don't hesitate to contact us every once in a while, okay?"

"All right, Victor, I will," Ava promised.

Then Victor let go of Ava and went to a dark corner of the room while Charles and Espen followed him.

"You know, kid, I was thinking about getting in touch with some former G. U. N. members and restarting the group now that the world's been saved," Rouge butted in. "Of course, new recruits are always welcome."

"I appreciate the offer, Rouge, but I'm good for now," Ava replied.

Huffing, Rouge glanced over at Shawn who made no expression. "Fine. But…give me a call if you change your mind."

"Sure," Ava nodded and walked out of the room.

Outside, Ava came into a town square with the sun setting beyond it. There, he found Sonny watching and decided to join him.

"So, you're heading out too?" Sonny guessed. When Ava smiled weakly, Sonny responded, "I was thinking the same thing."

"Where are you going?" Ava asked.

"Somewhere to put this thing." Sonny held up the Phantom Ruby and put it back in his pants-pocket. "Preferably where Eggman won't find it. What about you?"

"I'm off to find Infinite," Ava explained. "I know he started to fade at the end of our last battle, but I think he's still out there…and I need to be there to stop him."

"Well, good luck, then. And who knows? Maybe we'll meet again sometime, Ava."

Sonny then fist-bumped Ava and then took off in a blue blur. Then Ava adjusted his wrist bracelet and swung onto a nearby ledge with his grappling wire.

###

Back in the Resistance Base, Shawn was reminiscing about the first time he encountered Infinite. It happened a month after Sonny disappeared and neither Shawn or Omega had been able to find Doctor Eggman, let alone the Phantom Ruby. But then Omega's sensors started to pick up a signal from the Mystic Jungle leading Shawn to investigate it. Blake and Silva offered to come, though Shawn insisted on going alone. He soon discovered the Casino Forest and glided down a series of water-slides with his rocket-powered boots toward a large temple-like building in the distance. Then just when Shawn thought it was eerily quiet, four individuals suddenly surrounded him.

They were wearing black skin-tight suits, white scarves, and silver masks shaped like jackal heads with the eyes covered in red lenses. Using small vessels that hovered over the water, they started to close in on Shawn forcing him to take out his handgun.

"Who the hell are you?" Shawn demanded, spinning around to get a good look at each one.

" _The Jackal Squad,_ " said one of the individuals, steering his vessel closer to Shawn till they were inches apart from each other. " _We were hired to keep intruders like you from entering the lab._ "

This peeked Shawn's interest. "What's in it?"

" _If I told you, I wouldn't be getting paid for this,_ " replied the masked individual, who attempted to hit Shawn.

Fortunately, Shawn warped behind the guy and kicked him off the vessel. Then as Shawn steered the vessel further down the water-slide, the others went after him. One in particular rammed into him from behind, forcing him to look behind and shoot his handgun. It missed the individual who was steering while the first guy that fell into the water was picked up by one of the other vessels.

As the second individual closed in, they said in a female voice, " _I'll have you know that we've killed more smart-mouths like yourself than any other assassin in the world, so don't be so quick to underestimate us!_ "

"Really?" Shawn replied in a sarcastic tone. "Then how come I've never heard of you before?"

In a single leap, the second individual boarded Shawn's vessel and kicked the handgun out of his hands. Meanwhile, the other two individuals plus the first one steered their vessels closer. This in turn forced Shawn to leap into the air off the edge of the water-slide and then he warped to a nearby cliff that stood on the other side of the river which the water-slide emptied into. Unfortunately, none of the other Jackal Squad members were able to get off their vessels in time before careening off the water-slide into the river which swept them all away.

To be concluded…


	47. Epilogue: Miracle

Epilogue: Miracle

Further from the cliff Shawn had landed on, he noticed the large temple-like building stood a few feet from him though there were several Badniks patrolling the entrance. He took them out without too much difficulty and cautiously approached the door. But then a lone individual appeared right in front of him, who looked like all the other Jackal Squad members only he wore a long black trench-coat over his suit and had long white dreadlocks trailing behind him.

"So I take it you're the leader of the Lame Squad I just defeated?" Shawn guessed.

The individual growled and clenched his fists. " _No one insults the Jackal Squad like that and gets away with it!_ "

As the guy rushed at him, Shawn warped to his left and kicked him in the side of the head. This sent the individual crashing into a nearby column which immediately collapsed. To Shawn's surprise, the individual managed to get up a few moments later holding the right side of his mask. It was now cracked in the shape of a lightning bolt with the red lens broken.

" _You…ruined my…face,_ " the individual muttered.

Crying out in pain, the individual ran towards Shawn who merely kicked him back into a nearby wall. Then before the individual could recover, Shawn warped over and gripped his trench-coat collar with one hand.

"You're too weak," Shawn stated bluntly. "Now get out of here before I have you join your teammates in the river."

Then Shawn let go of the guy and went into the building.

###

Two months later, Eggman had taken over the world despite the information Shawn had leaked to G. U. N. from the lab at Mystic Jungle. It described Eggman's plan to create a new weapon using the Phantom Ruby, but the details were too sketchy to be of any help to G. U. N.. As a result, they were swiftly defeated by Eggman's mysterious generals and were forced underground including Rouge and her father the Commander.

" _Hey, Shawn, I hear Chuck's putting together a group of rebels to oppose Eggman_ ," Silva said through Shawn's earpiece. " _Maybe we should consider joining them._ "

"I don't think that would be wise," Shawn objected, approaching the outskirts of Ghost Town where Omega had last radioed in before going dead-silent. "What can they do against an entire army of robots, let alone those generals who took out G. U. N.?"

" _It gives people hope,_ " Blake interjected. " _Ever heard of that, Shawn?_ "

"Yeah, but what good is hope when the enemy is unnaturally strong?" Shawn retorted.

" _It's that Phantom Ruby Eggman has,_ " Silva claimed. " _Without it, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish all of this._ "

" _If only those stupid robots from that other dimension hadn't come,_ " Blake grumbled.

"You know, complaining about the situation isn't going to make our job any easier," Shawn said.

Just then, he noticed a rundown robot that looked like Omega. Inspecting further, Shawn realized it was Omega and told the others what happened.

" _Whoever could've done this must've been really powerful, since Omega usually doesn't go down without a fight,_ " Blake noted.

"It's not so much that he's been destroyed, but…in a permanent sleep-mode that he can't wake up from."

" _But how can that be? Was he hacked into?_ " Silva asked.

"Not that I can tell," replied Shawn.

" _Weird._ " Then a faint whooshing sound came from Blake's end and she said, " _Hold on a second, guys. There's some unusual red lights coming from the city, and I'm going to go check it out._ "

" _Wait, Sis—_

Before Silva could finish, Blake's line went silent.

###

Several hours passed, and Blake didn't respond to either Silva or Shawn's calls. So Shawn used his Red Chaos Emerald to warp to the city she went to and looked around. A red blast of energy suddenly came from nowhere, forcing Shawn to dodge. Looking up, he saw the same masked individual from Mystic Jungle floating downward holding Blake's unconscious body in his arms. He still wore the black trench-coat, but with silver-lined gloves and ankle-length boots.

" ** _Hello, Shawn,_** " the masked individual said in an unnatural voice, glaring at Shawn with his one visible eye which was bright yellow. " _ **Fancy meeting you here.**_ "

"Aren't you that guy I defeated two months ago?" Shawn questioned.

" ** _Not anymore,_** " replied the individual. " ** _That old version of me was 'too weak' as you said, so I volunteered to be a test-subject for Doctor Eggman's little_** **experiment _and was born anew with memories from a past Mobius that was very much like this one only it had talking animals and other monstrosities_.**"

"What kind of experiment?"

Instead of answering, the individual huffed and threw Blake down in Shawn's direction forcing him to catch her. But what drew Shawn more was the triangular gemstone that now glowed on the individual's chest.

"Is that…the Phantom Ruby?"

" ** _No, but an artificial replica of it,_** " the individual explained. " ** _Its powers are similar to the original, but only half as powerful. But, it's more than enough to defeat the likes of you!_** "

Cupping his hands, the individual created a red energy orb and sent it flying towards Shawn. Unable to dodge it, Shawn was briefly blinded and then he suddenly found himself in Green Hill only its greenery was replaced by mounds of sand and dozens of Badniks who seemed to be attacking Blake.

" _Shawn, what are you doing?_ " Rouge demanded. " _Go help Blake, or I'm telling my father!_ "

"Rouge?" Shawn flinched. "How are you talking to me right now? I set the frequency to be only between me, Silva, Blake, and Omega when we set out to look for Eggman."

" _I gave her the means to break into our frequency, thinking you could use the extra help,_ " Omega claimed.

Shawn's brow furrowed. "Aren't you supposed to be shut down, Omega?"

" _Why do you say that?_ " Omega asked.

"Because I found your lifeless body in Ghost Town not too long ago."

" _But I am not weak-weak-weak—_

"None of this is real, Shawn!" Blake cried, using her pyrokinesis to incinerate the Badniks around her. "It's some kind of false reality that the masked creep trapped us in."

"How can you tell?" Shawn inquired.

"Because these Badniks keep coming with no end to them," Blake responded as the ones she destroyed were suddenly replaced by new ones. "And the sun hasn't moved since I got here."

"And how long ago was that?"

"I'm not sure."

"It's been several hours since your last contact, if that helps."

"Then you've got to get out of here!" Blake insisted. "Just concentrate really hard and focus on where you were before this."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, just as soon as these Badniks stop spawning."

Deciding to help her, Shawn used his warping ability to destroy the remaining Badniks thus allowing them a brief period of time to close their eyes. Ignoring the clanking noises and hot sun of Green Hill, Shawn's mind drifted back to the smoke-filled city with its scorched buildings and cold alleys. After what seemed like moments of concentrating on this image, Shawn opened his eyes to find himself standing back in the alley with the masked individual still floating above him though Blake was still unconscious.

" ** _I guess her mind wasn't so strong, after all,_** " the masked individual remarked, and started to drift away.

"You're not getting away from me that easily!" Warping while still holding Blake, Shawn attempted to punch the individual in the face but was sent flying into a brick wall by a blast of red energy that came from the individual's hand.

The masked individual chuckled. " ** _Now who's the weak one?_** "

"What…are you?" Shawn said, feeling the pain in his back.

" ** _Perfection, Shawn,_** " the masked individual responded, turning away. " ** _And it goes by the name of 'Infinite.'_** "

Unable to move, Shawn watched as the individual who called himself Infinite flew away laughing maniacally while the earpiece lay damaged nearby with sparks flying from it.

###

"What's on your mind, Shawn?" Rouge asked, giving him a dubious glance. The other Resistance members had left the Base to go help others that were struggling after Eggman's defeat, except for her Silva and Amelia.

"Oh, nothing," Shawn shrugged. "I was just…thinking about the first time I met Infinite."

Rouge was about to say something when she heard something on her earpiece and listened.

"You're not going to believe this, Shawn, but...Blake's talking to me, from the city hospital."

As his eyes widened, Shawn grabbed Rouge's earpiece. Meanwhile, Rouge told Silva who levitated over to Shawn and forced him to share the earpiece so they could both listen to Blake.

" _Is this what you humans call a 'miracle'?_ " Omega said, watching the two.

"Yeah, it's something like that," Rouge replied.

The End


End file.
